


Have Portal, Will Travel

by ibelieveinturtles



Series: Donuts in My Bra and Other Stories [20]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Camping, F/M, Gratuitous nudity, Holidays, Interdimensional Travel, Portals, Slow Burn, Summer Vacation, Tumblr Prompt, cocktails, fydl summer challenge, stay-cation, tortured Brock Rumlow, tropical island
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-05
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-06-22 02:32:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 28,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15571755
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ibelieveinturtles/pseuds/ibelieveinturtles
Summary: Jane and Darcy are in Tromso, dreaming of warmer climes when they discover two things...





	1. Tropical Island

**Author's Note:**

> This is being written for the F*ckYeahDarcyLewis - Cool For The Summer - A Darcyland Vacation Challenge.
> 
> The current plan is to link all the prompts into a single fic. The first prompt starts mid The Avengers and then the story might wander around like a drunk trying to walk home at 3am Saturday morning. It might not either. It might catch a taxi. Who knows?
> 
> Beta'd by chrisshr

**F*ckYeahDarcyLewis - Cool For The Summer - A Darcyland Vacation Challenge**

* * *

  _ **August 1 - Tropical Island**_

* * *

 

 Darcy picked up the brochure from her desk and started to flick through it, spinning around on her chair as she browsed the pages.

“Jane, can we visit a nice, warm, tropical island next?” she called across the room.

“Anywhere has to be better than this,” Jane replied. “Got anywhere in mind?”

Darcy flipped another page and then let out a soft “Ooh,” of keen interest.

“How about here?” she said, turning the brochure around to give Jane a look.

Jane glanced up and peered across the room. “Looks very green,” she said. “But I can’t see enough beaches,” and went back to tinkering with her machine.

“More beaches,” Darcy muttered. “Right.”

She flipped another page over and inspected the photos. “Not that one. Not that one either. Nope.” She kept flipping pages, inspecting each one carefully.

“Ooh! How about this one?” She lifted it up to show Jane, who was now crawling around on the floor underneath the contraption.

“Can't see it from here. You'll have to bring it closer,” was Jane's response this time.

Darcy got off the chair and crossed the room, sitting down next to Jane and holding the brochure so the other woman could see it.

“Looks...nice,” Jane said, punctuating the sentence with a small grunt of effort as she adjusted something. “What kind of facilities does it have?”

“Oh, Jane, you're gonna love this, right? So, it's got loads of beaches, loads of rainforest, a wreck, a lagoon, and a mountain. One end’s got the resort and everything you'd expect from a five-star luxury hotel, and then the rest of the island-which is almost a hundred square miles by the way-is a National Park with hiking trails, camping grounds, a series of waterfalls AND-” she paused dramatically “-there's an observatory!” she finished.

The sound of tinkering stopped. “Private, institution, or government?” Jane asked.

“Um...I think it’s private?... Oh! It belongs to the resort!” There was a mixture of surprise and glee in Darcy’s voice. “Jane, they do stargazing tours!”

Jane made one last adjustmenty-sounding noise, then slithered out from under the machine and looked at Darcy with a look of hopeful avarice in her eyes. “How many telescopes? What kind?”

“A 25 metre radio telescope, a submillimetre array consisting of ten, four-metre  telescopes, and two optical slash infrared telescopes - one's three metres and the other one's five point two metres.”

“That's … a lot of telescopes. Why have I have never heard of it before?” Jane wondered, climbing to her feet. “Okay, I think I’ve finished all the adjustments now. Let's take a look.”

Darcy scrambled to her feet and skipped back to her chair, waking up the computer as Jane started flipping switches and turning knobs.

As usual, the program decided to take its own sweet time to start up so Darcy opened a browser, clicking through to her favourite news site while she waited.

It failed to load, which was also not unusual. She refreshed again, and again, and again, a frown developing on her face as she kept getting error messages.

She didn’t realise she was muttering to herself until Jane asked her what was wrong.

“No internet, Jane. I think- I think we’re being blocked. Hang on, lemme try something.”

She typed away at her keyboard for a few minutes, navigating through the firewalls until she finally broke through with a small cheer of victory and a fistpump.

“Oh. My. God.” She stared in shock at the video that was playing on the newsite.

“What?” Jane moved to watch over Darcy’s shoulder. “What the fuck? Is...is that Thor?”

“If it isn’t, cosplay has certainly lifted it’s game,” Darcy replied, clicking on another video.

“What the- is that aliens? What the hell is going on?” Jane continued.

“Hang on, I’ll see if-” Darcy cut off as a door clanged open at the end of the corridor, heavy footfalls echoing loudly.

“Sounds like our keepers are here to check up on us,” she grumbled.

“Good,” Jane snapped. “Maybe they can explain to us what’s going on.”

They turned as one to face the door as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Brock Rumlow strode through the door, fully kitted out in tac gear and bristling with weaponry. Darcy’s knees went a little weak at the sight. (Darcy had been running a flirty campaign on him ever since they arrived, hoping to win him to their side with a combination of wit, humour, and her magnificent tits. So far it was a hit and miss affair, but she'd caught him ogling her often enough that she wasn’t ready to give up yet.) His eyes went straight to the computer and then to the two women.

Jane didn’t even give him a chance to start making excuses before she launched her attack.

“What in seven hells is going on here? How long have you known about this? Did you really think we wouldn’t find out? Were you planning on telling us at all? Or were you just going to let us sit here in ignorance? And wha-”

“We’ve got bigger problems than that, Dr. Foster,” the agent cut in. He nodded his head towards the computer. “Loki’s behind all that, and he’s sent a team for you. You need to come with me-”

He cut off as the room shook, looking up at the ceiling as bits of plaster shook loose.

“Come on, we need to hurry. Leave it,” he said as they both made to move toward their desks. “We don’t have time.”

He led them out of the room, but halfway down the corridor the building shook again, and Darcy stumbled, falling right into him. He caught her by the elbow and steadied her. “Not the time, sweetheart,” he grinned at her.

“Asshole,” she grumbled at him, but her heartbeat sped up a little and she'd definitely taken the opportunity to cop a feel. Just a little one.

Part of the corridor abruptly collapsed in front of them, dust billowing everywhere.

Coughing and spluttering, Rumlow pushed them back into the laboratory with a muttered, “Wait there,” following less than a minute later and muttering into his com.

“The ceiling collapsed, the corridor is completely blocked,” he was saying. “We can't get out that way.”

Darcy exchanged a wide-eyed glance with Jane, raising her eyebrows and twisting her mouth in silent query. Jane rolled her eyes and shrugged, then nodded once. Darcy nodded slightly in return and tucked her hair behind an ear before turning her attention back to Rumlow.

“What do you mean there's no other way out?” he snapped. “Kowalski? KOWALSKI! Damn.” He turned to Darcy and Jane. “I just lost communication with my team. We’re trapped.”

Darcy shrugged. Trapped in a room with Agent Hottie? She could live with that. “Well, we have two options. We can wait it out,” she said, a small smile playing around her lips. “I have chocolate.”

Rumlow shook his head. “My ultimate responsibility is to keep you two safe and out of Loki's hands.” He raked his gaze around the room, looking for anything that could lead to a hitherto unknown exit.

“In that case, I guess it had better be option two,” Jane said. “We portal out.”

Rumlow snapped a disbelieving gaze back to Jane. “I didn't think you'd gotten that thing to work,” he said.

“It's been working for weeks,” Jane said, giving him a sour look, “but a crucial fuse keeps overloading and burning out within about 30 seconds.”

“Does S.H.I.E.L.D. know?” Rumlow asked, but even as he asked the question, he was shaking his head, knowing the answer already.

“Of course not,” Jane was already saying. “You really think I want this kind of tech in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s hands?” She pinned him with her sharp gaze.

"I'd be careful about how you answer that if I were you,” Darcy chimed in, flashing him a brilliant smile.

Rumlow spread his hands wide in supplication. “My lips are sealed.”

The women exchanged another glance and then flew into action, Jane sliding back under the machine, Darcy rummaging around in a box.

With a small grunt of triumph Darcy pulled something out of the box and passed it to Jane before starting to type furiously on the computer.

Rumlow kept watch at the door, one eye on the corridor, one very curious eye on the two women.

“Okay, Jane. Ready!” Darcy cried out a moment later. “Come on.”

“You just gonna leave it here for anyone to use?” he asked in a worried voice, still glancing over his shoulder at the door as if expecting it to burst open at any moment.

“They won't be able to use it,” Darcy said, quickly and methodically shoving things into a bag she'd pulled off a hook on the wall. Jane was doing the same. “The fuse remember? The portal will only last about 30 seconds, then it'll short out and it'll be dead. Now are you coming with us or not?” She beckoned to Rumlow to follow her across the room.

“Right behind you.”

Jane turned a knob, pressed a big red button (that had a sticker on it, saying ‘DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON’) and picked up a tablet from a desk.

There was a sudden explosion in the hallway, the whole building shuddered again, and dust and rubble flew everywhere. Rumlow swore, darting back to the doorway, a gun appearing in his hand like magic.

“We need to hurry,” he said.

“Just a minute.” Jane was tapping away at the tablet screen. “Thirty seconds from … now!” she called out and an oval of light bloomed in the middle of the room, followed a second later by another explosion.

“They're coming through!” Rumlow called out, and suddenly he was firing, steady, calculated shots.

Jane calmly tucked the tablet into a bag, slung it crosswise over her body and moved towards the portal. “Twenty five seconds,” she announced calmly. “Going through now.”

She stepped into the portal.

Rumlow risked a glance behind him, eyes widening as Jane disappeared. His eyes flicked to Darcy who was counting down the seconds on her phone. “How long does it take?” he asked her.

“Instantaneous, as far as we can tell,” she said, “but we figure it's safer to leave a gap until we've done more tests.”

She looked up at him. “We can go through together though, if you want.”

“Just go,” he said as Darcy hesitated. “I'll hold them off until the last seconds. Don't want them following us.”

She nodded and turned towards the shimmering portal as yet another explosion rocked the building. She staggered and fell back, hitting the floor hard and knocking her head against the floor as a second explosion followed rapidly on the heels of the first.

“Ow,” she groaned, pain spreading across the back of her head. She groaned again, lifting a hand to feel the damage. It felt wet. “Ow,” she moaned again.

Suddenly hands were pulling her upright and half carrying, half dragging her across the floor.

“No!” she cried out, twisting to escape.

“It's me,” Rumlow said in her ear, “and time’s almost up.”

She saw the portal in front of them and then she was falling.


	2. Interdimensional Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy wakes up, but she's not in Tromso anymore.

**August 2: Interdimensional summer**

* * *

 

Darcy woke up slowly, the long climb towards consciousness putting her in mind of that old Greek myth about whatshisname climbing out of the Underworld. She wished she could remember his name. It was going to bug her all day, she just knew it.

She gradually became aware of the soft pillow under her cheek and the gentle breeze of a ceiling fan wafting over the bits of her body that weren't covered by the sheet. There was a tangy, salty smell in the air and a non-regular rushing kind of sound in the background.

She sighed, stretched, and rolled over, right into a patch of sunlight, wondering if there was any chance of going back to sleep for a little bit longer or if she’d gotten all she was going to get for now. 

And then she remembered that she'd just been fleeing an attack on the Tromso Observatory through Jane's portal with Jane and Agent Rumlow. 

Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright, hand flying to the back of her head and patting it gingerly. There was nothing there. No bump, no bandage, nothing. She brought her hand around and stared at it. Clean as a whistle. No blood. 

Had she dreamt it then? 

Climbing out of bed, she discovered that she was in a roomy villa on the edge of a perfect white beach and the rushing sound she could hear was the surf rolling up and down the sand.

It was beautiful, but it wasn't where she was supposed to be.

She turned back to the villa. It was one main room with a bathroom and kitchenette, and only took her several minutes to search. There was no sign of her bag, but she did find a wardrobe full of unfamiliar clothes, all in her size.

During her search, she found a map of an island. The same island she'd been reading about right before Jane finished the adjustments on her latest gadget and they discovered that a) Loki was leading an alien invasion of New York and b) he wanted to get his hands on Jane.

Looking around the room again, she took a deep breath. The only way she was going to find out what was going on would be to leave her room. She quickly changed out of the pyjamas she was wearing, pulling cargo shorts and a cheerful shirt out of the wardrobe.

She stepped out of the villa, pulling the door closed behind her, and followed the path away from the beach. She wandered around for nearly half an hour without seeing another person, feeling more and more lost and alone with each passing minute.

As she wandered, she gradually began to notice that things looked a little … off. At first glance everything looked normal, but there were subtle differences. The plants were just the wrong shade of green. The  insect life buzzed and hummed differently (although she wouldn't be to say  **what** the difference was - just that it was different), and the birdsong was just … wrong, although again, what the wrongness was, she couldn't quite put a finger on. There were no other signs of life.

With her anxiety mounting and a churning in her belly that could have been either nausea or hunger, she rounded a corner in the path and there, in front of her, was a dining room. She was standing opposite the doorway, wondering if she should go in or not, when a familiar voice spoke behind her.

“Lewis?” 

She turned swiftly to see a tanned and relaxed Agent Rumlow standing there, wearing nothing but a pair of gym shorts and a towel slung around his neck.

Darcy’s stomach flipped.

“Agent Rumlow?” she blurted out, and the expression on his face went from hopeful to relieved in rapid succession and he looked her up and down, as if to reassure himself that she was all there.

“At last,” he said. “It's good to see you.” 

“What? What's going on?” Darcy asked. “I woke up-”

“Well, that's an interesting story,” he said, running a hand across his well-stubbled chin. “And it'll take more than a few minutes to tell. Have you had breakfast yet?”

“Um. No,” Darcy said. “Where are we? What's going on?”

“It's a little bit complicated.” He glanced down for a moment and then jerked his head towards a path she hadn't explored yet. “Come on. We'll go get breakfast and I'll explain everything.”

Darcy hesitated as he set off. She wasn't sure if she should trust him or not, but as she looked around at the unfamiliar landscape, the lost feeling welling up in her chest again.

He stopped as soon as he realised she wasn't following him and turned back to her. “I'm not gonna bite, Lewis. Don't you wanna know what's going on?”

Darcy sighed and pulled up her metaphorical big girl pants. It wasn't like she had much of a choice really.

“Okay, Agent. I hope you've got bacon.”

Rumlow grinned and her metaphorical pants tried to fall back down. “Anything you want, sweetheart. And call me Brock.”

Half an hour later, the man had thankfully put more clothes on and they were sitting down to breakfast at the edge of the most pristine beach and bluest, clearest ocean she'd ever seen. She just wanted to spend hours and hours laying on the sand, in between hours and hours of floating in that crystalline sea.

Right after she stuffed her face.

“I di’n’t realithe how hungy I was,” she said around a mouthful of eggs and bacon.

“I was the same when I got here,” Rumlow - Brock, she corrected herself - said. He was watching her closely, almost as if he was afraid she'd disappear again if he looked away.

Darcy hastily swallowed her eggs. “You promised me an explanation,” she reminded him.

“Dr. Foster’s portal seems to have glitched,” he said, “and as far as we can tell, we're either in some sort of parallel universe or an alternate reality; in Earth’s far-future or far-past; or on a different planet entirely. Foster's not exactly sure-”

Darcy’s eyes widened and she gasped. “Jane's here? Where? I need to-”

“Talk to her, I know,” Rumlow said, nodding in agreement, “but she'll be asleep right now and it's a good couple of hours drive up to the observatory.”

Darcy nodded, still trying to understand what was going on. “So this  **is** the island we were looking at in the brochure? How does that even work?”

Brock shrugged. “Not my department. All I know is what Foster tells me and I don't even understand half of what she says anyway.”

Darcy nodded agreeably. “You pick it up eventually,” she said, going to stuff toast into her mouth. She paused, the toast halfway to her mouth. “How- can we get home?”

“Foster’s working on it,” Brock said, “but it's taking time.”

Darcy frowned at that and put the remains of the toast back on her plate. She was motionless for a long moment and then she lifted her eyes slowly to meet his. “How long have you been here?” she asked.

Brock leaned back in his chair, but he didn't break eye contact and his face was calm and expressionless. “Six weeks. Foster says she's been here for nearly five months.”

Darcy gasped. “What?” She almost didn't recognise her own voice. “Five months? By herself? Really? Are you sure?”

“ **She's** sure,” Brock said firmly, and then they both heard the unmistakable sound of a vehicle approaching at speed. “Sounds like you'll be able to ask her yourself.”

Darcy was already out of her chair and racing up the path.

“Lewis! DARCY!” Brock called after her. “The other way!”

She spun around and took off in the direction he was pointing, waving her thanks as she left him walking sedately after her.

Even though it had been barely two hours since Darcy had seen Jane, she threw herself at her friend like it had been the same five months that Jane had experienced.


	3. Stay-cation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a reunion, a secret, and some light breaking and entering.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got a lot longer that I expected, and I've ended up continuing it into the August 4 prompt, which I'm still working on! *curses my inability to write short things*
> 
> Thanks to chrissihr for the beta!

**August 3: Stay-cation**

* * *

  

Jane's explanation for her unexpected arrival was a simple one. She had rigged up detectors and an alarm system as soon as she formed her theory about where she was and how she got there, so the moment Darcy arrived on the island, the alarms had woken her up and she headed straight for the beach.

“Oh my god, Darcy. It's so good to see you,” Jane half sobbed, half gasped. “I thought I'd lost you.”

“Takes more than a wonky portal to get rid of me,” Darcy replied, wiping happy tears from her face. She stepped back and held Jane at arms length. “Are you okay? Have you been eating? You look...” Darcy paused for a moment as she really took in Jane's appearance. The other woman was slightly tanned, filling out her usually baggy clothes, and had a surprising lack of dark circles under her eyes.

“You look really good,” Darcy finished, eyes wide and a half smile playing around her lips.

Jane rolled her eyes and sent a glare towards Brock, who was watching the reunion a short distance away. “Agent Helicopter Mom over there keeps stealing my car keys, and locking me out of the observatory. He makes me take walks!” Darcy was hard pressed not to laugh at the indignation in Jane's voice as she turned around to look at Brock. He shrugged at her.

“Told you before, my priority is to keep you safe. Healthy is safer than unhealthy.”

“What about getting us home?” Jane demanded. “That's even safer, and I can't get us home if I'm too busy walking along the beach to finish my research!”

“And who's going to do the research if you've collapsed from exhaustion and a lack of vitamin D?” Brock drawled. “It's been two days since I was up there - when was the last time you ate?”

A guilty look crept over Jane's face. “I had a tub of yoghurt before the telescopes turned on. OH!” She spun back to Darcy, flinging an accusing arm towards Brock at the same. “He put the computers that control the telescopes **on timers**! I'm locked out for EIGHT HOURS A DAY!”

“Fat lot of good that did,” Brock grumbled. "She found paper, took charcoal from the fire pit, and used that to keep going.” There was a tone of begrudging admiration in his voice.

“So … you two are getting along well then,” Darcy stated, not even bothering to hide her grin anymore. “C’mon, Jane. I haven’t finished my breakfast yet and you need some proper food.” She hooked an arm around Jane's and set off down the path back to Brock's villa.

“I'll put the car away then!” Brock called after them, walking over to the still-running car and climbing in.

They gave him a wave of acknowledgment and kept walking, heads close together as they talked.

“Are you really okay, Jane?” Darcy asked. “Five months alone here?”

“Three and a half really. Rumlow showed up about 6 weeks ago. As nice as it was being able to work undisturbed, I've never been so relieved to see another face, even if he is S.H.I.E.L.D.” Jane draped an arm around Darcy’s shoulders, pulling her closer as she threw a quick glance over her shoulder.

“We can leave any time.” Jane's voice was so low it took Darcy several seconds to realise what she'd heard and her wide eyed gaze shot around to meet Jane’s smug face.

“What? But he said-”

“Well, I wasn't going to tell him because I realised that if he was here, then you were probably going to show up soon too.” Jane muttered furiously. “What if he just wanted to leave straight away?” She shook her head sharply. “I wasn't going to risk it.”

“Aw, Jane. You're the best. So how do we get home?”

“I try,” Jane shrugged modestly. “I was able to build a miniature version of the portal device - one we can carry with us - and I still had the fuse I swapped out before we left in my pocket. I had to cannibalise one of the smaller telescopes and a couple of computers, but I finished it barely a day before Rumlow showed up. I was actually getting ready to try portalling home when my alarms went off!”

“That is ridiculously coincidental,” Darcy stated.

“I know,” Jane agreed, absently chewing on a knuckle. “I'm not sure this place is real, Darce. I mean, everything looks real. Feels real. Smells-”

Jane broke off as they rounded a corner and Brock's villa came into view. She sighed.

“I hate to admit it,” she said, darting a sheepish grin at Darcy, “but he's right about the food thing. I'm starving!”

Darcy nodded. “We were halfway through breakfast when we heard your car. You can tell me everything later, okay?”

“Breakfast? It's after midday!”

“Bacon, Jane. He promised me bacon!”

By the time Brock returned to the villa, Jane had a half empty plate and was starting to fade.

“You look like shit, Foster,” he observed, sitting down across the table and prodding at his cold breakfast with a fork. “How much sleep did you get before Lewis’ arrival triggered your alarms?”

“About-” Jane screwed her face up while she worked out an answer, “-about half an hour.”

He shook his head in disgust. “Finish that, and then bed. I want a solid six hours at least before I give you your keys back.”

Jane stuck her tongue out at him but didn’t object. Darcy watched in quiet fascination, and not a little bit of jealousy. It would have taken her an hour to get the same capitulation out of Jane. She eyed Brock speculatively and determined to have a Serious Conversation with him as soon as Jane was asleep.

Until then, she concentrated on clearing her plate.

Once Jane finished eating she was surprisingly quick to take herself off to bed, and when Darcy checked up on her ten minutes later, Jane was snoring lightly in the darkened second bedroom.

Brock’s villa was bigger than hers, with two identical bedrooms separate from the living space - more of a small apartment than a hotel room. Closing Jane’s door quietly, she headed to the kitchen where the agent was stacking the dishwasher.

“Alright, buster. Spill “ Darcy demanded.

“Spill what?” Brock queried, casting a lazy eye over her.

“Your secrets,” Darcy hissed, trying to keep quiet so as not to wake Jane. “How did you get Jane to eat and take walks and sleep? Do you know how hard it is to get her to do normal peopling when she's on a roll? And ... and how come your villa’s so big and has things like a dishwasher? Mine’s barely more than a glorified bedroom with a kettle and television.”

“I started in one like that,” he said, adding powder and turning the machine on. He beckoned for her to follow him outside. “About a week after I got here and started running herd on Foster, we came back down one afternoon to find that instead of my single room villa, we had one with a second bedroom and bathroom instead.”

“What?” Darcy had no idea how to respond to that piece of information so she decided to ignore it and move on. She'd ask about that later.

“Is there anyone else here?” It wasn’t the question she planned to ask him, but she realised she hadn’t seen any people other than Jane and Brock yet.

He hesitated a moment, then shook his head. “Nope. Not a soul.”

“You hesitated,” she said accusingly, pausing on the villa’s verandah. “You **have** seen someone else.”

He shook his head again, more firmly this time. “I haven't seen anyone on this island except you, me, and Foster.” He stopped at the bottom of the steps and turned around. “It’s completely empty. Let’s go for a walk - I’ll give you a guided tour, and then you can pretend you’re on the most exclusive vacation ever. Or whatever.”

Darcy walked down the tiny staircase and fell into step beside Brock.

“I’ve never had a vacation away,” she said several minutes later. They were walking along the high tide line of the beach, the sun high in the sky and warm on their faces. “Mom always did stay-cations. I hated them.”

“What the hell is a stay-cation?” Brock asked.

“It’s when you take your vacation, but instead of going somewhere interesting and fun, like say - a beach,” she waved her hand at the perfect vista of sun, sand, and surf surrounding them, “you stay home and your cheap-ass mother takes you to the zoo and the park and the shitty cheap movie theater.”

“Sounds delightful,” Brock observed, not even trying to hide his amusement.

“Hah!” Darcy snapped. “I’ll delightful you. You know what?” She stopped suddenly and turned to face him. “I’ve gonna vacation the shit out of this place while I’m here. Like, I’ll still help Jane figure out how to get us home, cos I don’t want to be stuck here forever. But I’m gonna enjoy myself as well. There were a lot of things to do listed in that brochure, and I’m gonna do all of them.” She gave a decisive nod, and then resumed walking, a determined look on her face. She just hoped Jane would be okay with putting off their departure a little.

“What brochure?” Brock asked.

“There was a tourist brochure thing in the lab. You didn’t see it? It wasn’t too big, but it had half a dozen or so pages, and a different destination on each one. A ski resort, a cruise ship, a mountain trail hike, luxury camping, and this tropical island with its beaches and the observatory.”

“I don’t remember seeing anything like that,” Brock said. “Where’d you get it from?”

Darcy shrugged. “I dunno, I figured it just came with the paper or something.”

“We didn’t get any papers,” Brock replied, and even though he said it in a flat, matter-of-fact tone of voice, Darcy had the distinct feeling that he was actually a little worried.

“Maybe it came with some mail- Ooh, what's that?”

Darcy could see an awning or shade sail or something peeking through the trees lining the beach and Darcy altered her trajectory accordingly.

“That's the pool, bar, and lounge area,” Brock said, following close on her heels.

“A bar, huh? I could use a drink.”

“There's no staff or anything,” he called after her as she quickened her pace.

“But we can still get like, bottles of beer right?” she called back to him. “Or wine coolers? I just want something cold and maybe a little alcoholic!”

Looking around the pool area she'd arrived in, Darcy spotted the bar on the far side and made a beeline for it.

By the time Brock caught up she was busy rattling on the knob to the side door. “It's all locked up,” she whimpered, casting a piteous look in his direction.

The lazy, panty-dropping grin slid across his face again and he moved to stand beside her, pulling a small knife out of his back pocket.

“Well, of course you've got a knife.” Darcy stood back to give him room, taking the opportunity for a subtle ogle while he jimmied the lock. Damn but he had a nice ass.

The door popped open and Darcy gave a little cheer, peering eagerly over Brock's shoulder at the bounty within.

They spent a good half an hour investigating the contents of the bar but in the end they only took one pack each of beer, vodka cruisers, and apple cider back to the villa.

Darcy was only halfway through her first bottle when a wave of sleepiness rolled over her, taking her by surprise.

“Oohhhh,” she yawned. “Why‘m I so tired?”

“The portal,” Brock said. “I slept for almost sixteen hours after I arrived. You've been going for a few hours now, and the booze probably isn't helping either.”

“I've barely touched it!” she protested, and then she yawned again. “Ugh. I should prob’ly go home then,” Darcy said, pushing her chair back, but she couldn't help looking over to the room Jane was sleeping in. She didn't really want to leave Jane here.

Brock stood up with her. “You can sleep here,” he offered. “Use my bed.”

“But- but where will you sleep?”

Brock shook his head as he moved around the table to her side, catching her when she tripped over her own shoe and stumbled slightly

“I'm not sleeping just yet. Got things to do. Come on, this way.”

He guided her gently towards the other bedroom, and she was unusually aware of his warm hand on her back as he opened the door and flipped on the light with the other one.

He moved past her into the room, crossing it with long strides and opening the wardrobe. He fumbled in a drawer for a moment and drew a t-shirt out. For a split second, his face twisted into an odd expression, but it passed so quickly, she wasn't sure if she'd actually seen anything.

“Here. This'll be more comfortable to sleep in.” He held it out towards her and she took it, studying his face for any hint of the fleeting emotion from before, but he was already moving back to the door.

“Thanks,” she called after him.

As soon as he closed the door, she stripped off her shorts, shirt, and bra, pulled the soft t-shirt over her head, and climbed into the bed.

She snuggled under the covers and lay there, staring at the ceiling, wondering if, when she woke up again, would she still be here? Or would she be in a hospital bed somewhere, recovering from a concussion and some other strange trauma attributable to portal travel?

Gradually, her eyelids began to object to being open and, letting them close, she rolled onto her side and willed her body to drift into sleep. As she lost consciousness, it occurred to her that she needed to tell Jane they couldn't leave right away or else Brock would know that Jane had a working device all along.

She needn't have worried.

She was woken up by Jane sing-songing her name softly into her ear.

“Daaarceee. Daaaaarceeeeee! Wake up, Darcy!”

“If you don’ shuttup, ‘M gonna hurt you,” Darcy grumbled, face first, into the pillow.

“You wouldn't hurt me,” Jane whispered into her ear. “You like me too much.”

“That's debatable right now,” Darcy groaned, and rolled over. She peered up at Jane from one bleary eye. “I feel like shit,” she moaned. “Afternoon naps suck.”

“You'll get over it,” Jane said. “Now, come on. Get up.”

Darcy groaned again, dragging herself into a sitting position. Jane blinked in surprise as the sheet fell down around her waist, revealing the t-shirt she was wearing.

“That's not yours,” she said, a delighted smirk lifting the corners of her mouth.

“Get your mind outta the gutter, Jane. He just gave me something more comfortable to sleep in, that's all.”

“He never offered _me_ a shirt to sleep in,” Jane said, eyes twinkling as she stood up. “Now hurry up - take a shower, it'll help wake you up. Rumlow’s getting the BBQ fired up and we're going to take a walk while he does dinner.”

It was cooling off when Darcy made her way out to the patio. Jane was leaning against the patio fence and advising Brock on the best way to prep the BBQ plate. Brock seemed to be ignoring all of it.

“You ready?” Jane asked as Darcy stepped through the door.

“Ready for what?” Darcy said.

“Reunion party!” Jane said. “We’re gonna go back to your place, get changed, and come back here for dinner.” She turned her head to peer at Rumlow. “Want us to bring anything back?”

He shook his head. “No, thanks. Got everything I need here. You two have fun.”

Darcy followed Jane down the path, catching up with her in just a few steps.

“Do you know how to find your villa from here?” Jane asked when they hit the first intersection.

“Um…” Darcy looked around. Nothing seemed familiar. “No?”

“Eh. Doesn't matter. We’ll come across it eventually. Choose a direction, any direction!” Jane sang out, and Darcy gave Jane some serious side eye at this distinctly un-Jane-like behaviour.

“This way,” she said, pointing left. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m so okay, Darce. I haven’t been this okay for so long.” Jane bestowed Darcy with a beatific smile and then gasped. “Ooh - is that your villa?”

Darcy turned her head to see a villa that looked very much like the one she’d left earlier that day, but now it was lit up by the setting sun and doing an excellent imitation of an orange covered with glitter.

“I think so,” she said.

“Excellent.” Jane beamed.

Once inside, there wasn’t really any way to tell if it was the villa Darcy had woken up in, except for the clothes in the wardrobe, which were mostly feminine, and mostly in Darcy’s size. There were a few things in Jane’s size, as well. Jane kept up a litany of chatter as she sweet-talked Darcy into putting on a bright yellow sundress with a light cardigan and beach-friendly sandals. Jane chose a similar ensemble in red.

Eventually, Darcy had enough of Jane’s chatter and cracked.

“Jane, why are we really here? I know you, and you’re not really this into clothing, unless it’s planning your outfit for when you win a Nobel Prize! What’s going on?”

Jane sighed and dropped onto the bed. “You know how I said we could leave anytime?” she asked, and then went on before Darcy could reply, “Well, it occurred to me that if we leave right away, Rumlow will probably figure out that the device has been ready for at least a little while. I’m sorry.”

Darcy blinked in surprise. “Don’t be,” she said. “I realised the same thing earlier, but it’s not a problem, right? Cos I really, REALLY want to spend some time doing vacation things before we leave. Please?” She looked at Jane with pleading eyes. “Pleeaassee?”

It was Jane’s turn to blink in surprise. “Really? You’re not mad at me?”

Darcy shook her head vehemently. “Nuh uh. Jane, I’ve never had a proper vacation. I wanna do all the vacation things! In fact, while you were asleep, I told Brock that I wanna vacation the shit outta this place.”

Jane slumped in relief and smiled gratefully at Darcy. “What would I do without you?” she chuckled.

“Um - miniaturise your portal device in less than four months and be a self-rescuing princess?” Darcy offered.

“Okay, but I’d be a lonely mess at the end of it,” Jane conceded. “Alright then. We’ll vacation the - as you so elegantly put it - shit out of this place, and then we go home.”


	4. Camping Trip

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When trapped on a tropical island, do tropical island things!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August 4: Camping Trip
> 
> better late than never, thanks to chrissihr for the beta!

**August 4 - Camping Trip**

* * *

 

 

It was well and truly dark when they left Darcy’s villa, but with a full moon in the sky and plenty of pathside lighting, the resort looked just as beautiful at night as it did during the day, especially as all the subtle little peculiarities were concealed by the shadows.

They could smell the BBQ as soon as they stepped outside, and by the time they got back, their tummies were growling and their mouths were watering. Brock was just putting the large platter of steak, chicken wings, sausages, and bacon onto the table as they clattered enthusiastically up the steps.

“That looks amazing!” Darcy gushed, reaching across the table for a chicken wing, but getting a smart rap over the knuckles with a salad server for her effort. “Ow! What was that for?” 

“Wash your hands first,” Brock ordered, although he was smiling as he said it. “You, too,” he said, shifting his eyes to Jane, who was already halfway through the door to the kitchen.

“I know, I know,” Jane said, waving her hand as she breezed through the door. Darcy pouted at Brock, but followed without protest, not noticing how his eyes followed her as she disappeared after Jane.

“Is he for real?” Darcy whispered to Jane as they stood side by side at the sink.

Jane nodded. “If you cooked half that well, you'd find it a lot easier to get me to leave the lab,” she said. Darcy gaped at her in indignation. “What? You've said it yourself, you're a terrible cook!”

Darcy grimaced and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but you don't have to say it.”

“Oh, I don't know.” Jane grinned as she met Darcy’s eyes in the mirror. “I think maybe I do.” She shook the water off her hands, dried them quickly on a towel, and headed back outside.

The food tasted as good as it looked.

They were too busy eating for any sort of conversation at first, but as their bellies filled, they all began to slow down, and eventually Darcy caught Jane's eye. With a few minor facial contortions, she indicated it was time to start Operation Best Vacation Ever Whilst Hoodwinking The S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.

“So when do I get my car keys back?” Jane asked Brock. “I've still got work to do, you know, and I'm losing valuable calibration time right now.”

“Jane!” Darcy exclaimed. “You can't drive back up that mountain in the dark. What if you crash?”

“She's done it before,” Brock said calmly. “Usually when she's found where I hid the keys and stolen them back.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. “I thought you'd been keeping her safe?” she demanded. “Letting her drive up the mountain at night doesn't sound very safe to me.”

“It's not about letting,” Brock replied. “It's more that she's a devious woman who doesn't know when to stop.”

Darcy snorted and chuckled into the glass she'd just raised to her lips. “You got that right,” she said dryly. She looked at Jane from the corner of her eye. “Promise me you won't steal any car keys or drive up the mountain at night anymore.”

“But-”

“Promise!” Darcy insisted, wagging a finger in the air.

Jane sighed and reached for her own glass. “Okay, I promise.”

Darcy narrowed her eyes. “Promise properly,” she ordered.

“Darcy!” Jane hissed, glancing nervously at Brock. “Not now.”

“Yes, now.”

“But-”

“Jane! Swear!”

With a big sigh and an embarrassed glance at Brock - who was watching the exchange with an intrigued smirk on his face - Jane swore. 

“By the shining radiance of Thor’s hair, the magnificence of Thor’s abs, and the gloriousness of Thor’s biceps, I swear and promise that I won't steal car keys or drive up the mountain at night anymore.”

“May the blessing of Thor’s thighs be upon you,” Darcy intoned regally, and then dissolved into a fit of giggles. 

Brock wasn't even trying to hide a broad grin. “That's some promise,” he said, leaning back in his chair. 

Jane was slumped in her chair, hands covering her face. “I can't believe you made me do that in front of him,” she grumbled. “I hate you.”

“No you don't; you love me,” Darcy assured her. “And you-” She shifted her gaze to Brock, her eyes twinkling above an impish smile. “You're not going to give her keys back until I say so.”

He raised an eyebrow at her. “I won't?”

“Nope. We're going on vacation.” 

Jane and Brock listened in quiet resignation (Jane), and amused fascination (Brock), as Darcy informed them of her vacation plans. They were going to start off with a day on the beach - walking, swimming, laying in the sun, and maybe even a one-on-one beach volleyball tournament. Day two would be snorkelling around the shipwreck just offshore from the resort, day three would be hiking into the waterfall that dived gracefully off the side of the mountain, and day four would be spending a day at the spa.

“Wait! How do you expect to have a spa day if there's no staff here to do the spa stuff? Who’s going to do the massages?” Jane asked, finally breaking her silence.

“I-” Darcy frowned. “Shit. I forgot about that. Um-”

Brock cleared his throat.

Jane thrust her hand out, palm facing forward. “No!” she almost yelled. “Just no, don't even think it!”

“I was going to say-”

“I don't-” Darcy tried to speak, but Jane cut her off with a sharp, “Ah!” before addressing Brock again.

“No offence, Agent, but no. Not another word.” Jane glared at him until he shrugged in surrender. 

Darcy pouted again.

“Okay, then. A modified spa day,” she said.

“And after that?” Brock asked.

Darcy started counting on her fingers as she rattled of the list of other activities she had planned, “A camping trip, water skiing, mini golf, cocktails by the pool, the water slides, another day on the beach, and finally, you give Jane her keys back so she can give us the guided astronomy tour thing. And then, Jane finishes her gizmo and we portal out of here.”

“That's a lot of stuff, Darcy,” Jane said after a long minute of silence.

Darcy tossed her hair over her shoulder and nodded excitedly. “But it's gonna be fun!”

It  _ was _ fun. They all spent hours lazing around on the beach the next day, swimming in the light surf, and building sandcastles. The one on one volleyball was a disaster, as neither Jane or Darcy managed to score even a single point against Brock. Even when they teamed up against him, the only time they managed to score was when Darcy took her t-shirt off to reveal the bikini she was wearing underneath and Brock couldn’t take his eyes off her for a full ten seconds. It was only the ball hitting the sand beside him that recalled his attention to the game. After that, he was merciless.

The next day’s snorkelling only lasted a few hours, but they followed it up with another BBQ and Brock built a small bonfire on the beach afterwards. He offered up his bed to Darcy again after dinner the first night, so that Darcy didn’t have to spend a lonely night on her own in her single room villa. Instead, he slept on the daybed on his patio and Darcy only went back to her own villa when she needed clean clothes. As a consequence, when they came back from the beach after the snorkeling, the house had miraculously sprouted a third bedroom. Jane and Brock were used to this kind of thing by now and just shrugged it off as an island thing, but Darcy spent a good hour theorising about how it happened. No one had any answers.

The hike to the waterfall on day three started off as another glorious sunny day, with the odd soft, white, fluffy cloud floating around in the sky. The path wound gently through the jungle until it reached the bottom of the falls, where a large, deep pool of cool, inviting water was just asking to be swum in. Without even discussing it, Jane and Darcy dumped their daypacks, stripped down to the bikinis they were wearing underneath their shirts and shorts, and launched themselves into the water, not surfacing until they reached the other side of the pool. Darcy was treading water, turning back to see Brock picking up their abandoned bags and setting them on top of a large rock, watching her from the corner of his eye as he did so.

She was about to call out for him to join them when he drew his shirt up and over his head, and her words died in her throat at the sight of all that gorgeous muscle on display.

“Oh god,” she whispered to herself and then ducked under the water quickly as he turned to look at her. When she surfaced again, he was in the water, striking out across the pool with long, even strokes.

After their swim, there was a short debate about whether or not to return to the villa or climb to the top of the falls. There were more of the fluffy white clouds in the sky now, but Darcy was determined to see the view from the top and so they put their clothes back on and resumed their adventure. As they climbed, Brock was the only one paying much attention to anything except the path and the jungle, so he was the only one to notice the clouds gradually thickening and darkening. By the time the trio reached the top of the waterfall, the horizon was black.

“That doesn’t look good,” Jane said, peering toward what was now obviously a storm.

Standing next to her, Darcy and Brock agreed, and even as they watched, it was backlit by flashes of lightning in the clouds. They all realised at the same time that the storm headed toward their island was a strong one.

Brock was the first to react.

“We need to find shelter, immediately.” He strode back to where they’d dropped the packs they brought with them and lifted his up to his shoulder. “The observatory’s on the other side of that ridge. We should be able to make it before the storm hits, as long as we leave immediately.”

“How do you know that?” Jane asked.

“I did a thorough recon of as much of the island as I could reach while you were holed up tinkering with your machinery,” he said, helping Darcy with her pack. “Made sure I knew what was around, where it all was, and the best way to get to you in case of emergency.”

“Huh,” was all Jane said in reply.

Brock led them off at a brisk pace, but the first wave of rain reached them long before they got to the observatory, and they were all thoroughly wet by the time they arrived. The wind was picking up, howling around and through the telescopes, making noises that were both eerie and ear-splitting.

It only got worse. They were all huddling together in the small kitchen when a loud ripping sound echoed through the building, which was already shaking and shuddering in every big gust of wind.

“What was that?” Darcy yelled, wide eyed and nervous.

“At a guess, I’m gonna say the roof blowing off,” Brock shouted back.

“Are we safe here?” she yelled at him. “Will we be okay?”

He looked her square in the eye. “I don’t know.”

“This storm is really strong,” Jane cried out. “I’ve never been in a storm like it before.”

“What are we gonna do?” asked Darcy. Before anyone could answer her, there was another ripping sound, and then something big crashed against the building, and they could all hear the sounds of tearing, screaming metal. Darcy and Jane both let out small, terrified screams, shrinking into Brock for protection and reassurance.

“We’ll have to portal out,” Brock hollered, and both women looked at him with startled looks on their faces.

“But-”

“I know you finished it already,” he continued, shouting to be heard over the din of the storm, casting a dark look at Jane, “and for what it’s worth, I wasn’t going to leave without Darcy, either.”

Jane nodded once, and stood up, bracing herself against the wall. “Okay. Let's do this then.”

“Wait a minute.” Brock stood up with her and Darcy quickly joined them, all three heads as close together as they could get. “I go first this time.”

“No-” Jane started, but Brock ignored the interruption and kept going.

“I go first to make sure it’s safe. We hold hands, go through one after the other. Jane, you go second, and - sorry to do this to you again, Darcy, but you come through last.”

“Jane, he’s right,” Darcy said, almost screaming now to be heard over the noise. “We have to go now. There’s no time for arguing.”

Jane limited herself to nodding and falling back to the ground when the building shook violently yet again. She started crawling on her hands and knees around the edges of the room towards the control panel for the portal machine. Halfway there, she stopped and turned back to yell at Brock.

“I built a miniature device as well. It’s in the cupboard under the stairs. Go and get it while I boot the computer!” 

He nodded, and changed direction slightly.

Darcy paused, not sure who she should follow. 

“Go with Brock!” Jane screamed at her. “All our things are there as well!”

Darcy gaped at her, scraping her sodden hair away from her face so Jane would be sure to see the accusing glare she was sending her. “You better explain!” she howled back, and half crawled, half staggered after Brock.

Brock reached the cupboard before Jane reached the control panel, but by the time he pulled out their bags, the miniature portal device, and - to Darcy’s surprise - his guns, Jane had pulled herself back to her feet and was busy at the keyboard.

Darcy looped the straps of both bags hip to shoulder across her body and continued around the wall to where Jane was, Brock so close behind her that she was sure she could feel his body heat, even through the storm. She lurched from support to support, Brock catching her whenever she stumbled or tripped, until they reached Jane.

“Are you ready?” Jane yelled into her ear, one hand hovering over the button that would activate the portal.

Darcy nodded vigorously, too tired to even attempt talking.

“We’ll have two minutes,” Jane continued, holding two fingers up and mouthing ‘two minutes’ at Brock, who nodded and adjusted his own burdens.

Jane grasped Darcy’s hand with her free one and slammed the other one down on the button.

The portal bloomed in the middle of the room, all blue and glowy.

As soon as she pressed the button, Brock grabbed Jane’s other hand and dragged them both across the room towards the portal. He paused for a moment at the threshold, looked back to check they were both still with him, and then stepped through.

Darcy watched him disappear, then Jane followed him, and then it was her turn again. She stepped forward, thinking how sad it was that she wasn’t going to finish all of her vacation plans. She’d really been looking forward to the mini golf, and the water slides, and the camping. She always wanted to go camping. Closing her eyes, she stepped through the portal.

Her eyes fluttered open, once, twice, and the third time they stayed open.

She was lying on her back looking at the ceiling of a canvas tent tall enough for even Brock to stand up straight in. Sunlight was streaming through the blue walls turning everything inside strange colours.

She could hear the warbling sound of a bird singing somewhere nearby and voices murmuring softly just outside the door of the tent.

“Hello?” she called out. The voices stopped.

There was a loud zzzzzzt sound as the zipper was opened, and Brock’s head appeared in the opening. 

“Darcy! You’re here!” His head disappeared for a moment and, as she struggled to sit up, she heard him call out to Jane.

The mattress dipped and wobbled underneath her and she realised she was on an airbed.

Jane's head appeared in the doorway now and a smile lit up her face when she saw Darcy.

“Well, that was a lot quicker this time,” she said brightly.

“How long?” Darcy asked, climbing to her feet.

“Only two days between us. There's clothes in the packs, over there.” Jane pointed to the corner behind Darcy. “Get dressed and come outside, we don’t have a lot of time.”

They weren’t the same packs they’d taken on their walk that morning ... but there were plenty of clothes suited to outdoors activities. She quickly dressed in cargo pants, a flannel shirt, socks and shoes, and pushed her way through the tent door.

Jane and Brock were standing near a second tent with all their original gear stacked at their feet. Jane was fiddling with the miniature portal device.

“What’s going-” Darcy stopped mid question and sniffed. “Is that smoke I can smell?” she asked.

Brock nodded, coming to stand next to her. “There’s a brushfire approaching, so we need to leave asap.”

“Oh,” Darcy replied, slightly dumbstruck. She looked around. There was a definite haze in the air, and now that she was listening, the birdsong she heard just a few minutes ago was disappearing fast, and she could hear the crackle of fire in the distance. Otherwise, it looked like a lovely spot to spend some time in.

“Okay, it’s ready,” Jane announced. “Everyone cross fingers that we land somewhere safe this time, because I can’t bring this with us.”

“I thought that was why you built it - to take with us?” Darcy said.

Jane nodded. “I did, but I forgot to take into account that we can’t take the thing that’s generating the portal, through the portal with us.” 

“Oops.”

There was a gust of hot wind and the crackling got louder.

“Enough chatter,” Brock snapped. “We have to go. Now.”

“Same order as last time?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Brock replied. “How long will it stay open for?”

“About one minute. Everyone ready?”

They grabbed their bags. Jane set the device on a log and hit the button.

The portal bloomed in front of them, and grasping each others hands, they walked into it.


	5. Cocktails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More breaking and entering in the pursuit of a drink with an umbrella in it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August 5: Cocktails.
> 
> Note, the cocktails used in this chapter were sourced from the internet, therefore may have differences from whatever version you may have been lucky enough to drink :-)
> 
> Thanks to chrissihr and zephrbabe for the cocktail inspiration chat, and chrissihr for betaing. I luvs you guys!!

**Cocktails**

* * *

   
Darcy awoke with a start. She was back in the villa. She lay there for a moment, breathing hard, as if she’d just been for a run or had a bad dream. Then she rolled out of bed and darted to the door, not even noticing, let alone caring, that she was only wearing a tank top and panties.

  
“How long? Why are we back here?” she asked breathlessly, stumbling into the living area.

  
Brock looked up from the book he was reading and sucked in a startled breath at the sight of her. “Darcy!”

  
“How long?” she demanded.

  
Brock swallowed as he composed himself. “Two days again, and we don’t know.” He put the book down and stood up, his eyes raking her up and down before gluing themselves to her face. “Jane’s up at the observatory now.”

  
“Oh - it wasn’t too damaged?”

  
Brock shifted a little, eyes looking everywhere except at her. “And there’s the mystery,” he muttered softly before raising his voice again. “It’s not damaged at all.”

  
Darcy gaped at him and sat down heavily. “How is that possible? We heard things ripping off and crashing about during that storm.”

  
Brock shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine or Jane’s. Alternate reality, the island repaired itself, magic…”

  
“Computer simulation? All of the above?” Darcy suggested.

  
Brock shrugged. “Maybe. Everything except this villa and the portal device seems to have reset itself. We all appeared in the same place this time.”

  
“Wait, the portal device is still up there?”

  
Brock nodded.

  
Darcy sighed heavily, leaning back into the couch with her eyes closed, trying to think, but finding it difficult. She opened her eyes again and looked at Brock, who quickly smoothed what she thought was a slightly guilty expression off his face.

  
“I don’t want you to think I make a habit of this,” she started, “because I don’t, but I could really use a drink. Like, something sweet. And sticky. With an umbrella in it.”

  
“Isn’t it a bit early for drinking?” Brock asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. Whatever his problem had been before, he seemed to be over it now.

  
“You have a problem with day drinking?” Darcy said with an arched brow of her own.

  
“No, no. Not at all,” he conceded. “We’ll probably have to break into the bar again.”

  
“I don’t have a problem with that if you don’t,” she declared, standing up again. “Lets go.”

  
The now familiar smirk suddenly appeared on his face. “Like that?” he said, waving a hand at her. She looked down and felt the blood rush to her face as she realised what she was wearing. No wonder he’d been so intent on her … face.

  
She lifted her chin with a confidence she was 100% faking. “I’m going to go and find something more suitable for cocktail hour,” she said haughtily. Following his earlier example, she raked her own gaze up and down his body, taking in the shorts that showed off his thighs and the tank top that showed off his arms and shoulders. Her stomach was suddenly full of butterflies and she struggled to maintain her composure when all she really wanted to do was drool. And possibly throw herself at him. “You should, too.”

  
She turned on her heel and strode back to her room, submitting to the impulse to add an extra swing to her hips. If they were going to be stuck in this island resort for who knew how long, then she was damn well going to make the most of it. Maybe it was time to kick the flirting up a notch or ten. Get serious about it.

  
Closing the door behind her, she headed straight for the wardrobe. So far, these wardrobes had provided exactly what she needed, so when she opened the door this time, she wasn’t surprised to see a selection of light, summery dresses perfectly suitable for afternoon cocktails by the pool. She selected a cute black and green dress with spaghetti straps, a pair of matching sandals, and then, on an impulse, pulled a black bikini out of a drawer. Her ensuite provided a quick lick of blush, some gloss, and waterproof mascara, and ten minutes later, she was ready.

  
Stepping back into the living area, she almost stumbled over her own feet in surprise. Brock was waiting by the door, dressed in a pale grey suit over a black shirt, the collar left unbuttoned. She didn’t even realise she was licking her lips until she tasted strawberry flavoured lip gloss.

  
Brock’s eyes flickered over her, but he had his face under control now and she had no idea what he was thinking.

  
He held the door open. “Shall we?”

  
He led her through the resort until they found the same bar and pool they’d visited last time, and it was the work of just a few seconds to break in again. This time though, instead of raiding and leaving, Darcy perused the bottles looking for something tasty while Brock opened the little bar right up. When he turned around, Darcy was busy pouring the contents of a couple of different bottles into a glass.

  
“Do you know what you’re doing?” he asked, a sceptical look on his face.

  
Darcy shook her head as she put the last bottle down, stuck an umbrella into a piece of pineapple she found in the fridge, and held it up triumphantly. “No idea, but cheers!”

  
She took a large mouthful and immediately spat it back into the glass, coughing and spluttering. “Ew, that’s disgusting! Gross! Ugh.”

  
Picking up Darcy’s discarded bottles, Brock inspected the labels and sighed, shaking his head in amusement. “No wonder,” he said. “This shit tastes worse than cough syrup. Move over.”

  
He took the glass off her and tipped it down the sink. “Out,” he said, jerking his head towards the stools in front of the bar. “I’ll make some you something nice, okay?”

  
“As long as it has an umbrella in it!” she called over her shoulder as she scrambled out the door and around to the front.

  
“One umbrella coming up. What flavours do you like?” he asked, running his fingertips along the rows of bottles. “A fruit. What’s your favourite summer fruit?”

  
“I like pineapple,” she said cheerfully. “And apricots. Peaches, watermelon, passionfruit-”

  
He selected a bottle and put it on the counter. “Do you like coconut?” he asked.

  
“Ooh, yeah. Coconut is delicious.”

  
“Alright then.” He took off his jacket, passing it to Darcy who slung it over the stool next to her, and then went to work.

  
“Where’d you learn to do this?” Darcy asked, watching in fascination as he gathered ingredients, blending this, shaking that, pouring the other.

  
“I was a bartender in college,” he replied, finally setting a creamy white drink in front of her, adding a slice of pineapple, an umbrella, and a stripy paper straw. “It helped pay bills and I learned a lifelong skill.”

  
Darcy smiled at him, then wrapped her lips around the straw and sucked. “Mmmm, oh, this is much better,” she hummed, licking her lips before taking a second mouthful of her drink. “What is it?”

  
“That’s a Pina Colada,” he said. “Pineapple juice, coconut cream, rum, and a dash of lime juice.

  
“I think it might just be my new favourite drink ever,” she declared, sucking on the straw again and looking at him from beneath her eyelashes. She was pleased to see that he was watching her attentively.

  
“Don’t be too hasty,” he warned her, starting on another cocktail as he aimed a sly, sexy smile at her. “I’ve got plenty more tricks up my sleeve.”

  
She sucked on the straw again, draining the glass. Then she brought the other end of the straw to her mouth and licked the dregs of the cocktail off it, running her tongue up and down until she’d gotten it all. A warm feeling of satisfaction rose up in her when she snuck another glance at Brock and caught him watching intently, the bottle in his hand suspended in mid air.

  
She sighed loudly and dropped the straw back into the glass. “What’s next?” she said, smiling innocently as he began to mix the next drink.

  
“This one’s a mojito,” he said. “It’s got pineapple, passion fruit, rum, lemon and mint.”

  
“Ooh, that sounds very refreshing,” Darcy enthused, leaning forward on the counter, elbows in just the right position to display her best assets appropriately.

  
Brock was finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes on what he was doing, and accidently added three times as much rum as needed. Grabbing a large jug from one of the shelves, he adjusted everything else accordingly and decided to take it poolside.

  
“Do you prefer Sprite or Mountain Dew?” he asked, peering into the fridge. They would need something else to drink, otherwise they’d both be more than just tipsy in no time at all.

  
“Sprite. Thanks, dude,” Darcy replied cheerfully, sitting up straighter as he poured and adorned two drinks, then loaded the jug, the glasses, two cans of Sprite, and a bottle of water onto a tray. After a moment's thought, he added the now half empty bottle of white rum to the tray as well.

  
“Pick a table,” he told Darcy. “Preferably under a shade sail.”

  
She chose a table close to the pool, and once she was settled in the deck chair, he handed her one of the mojitos and set a Sprite within arm’s reach as well.

  
“Ohhhh,” Darcy moaned, sipping at the new drink. “This … this is divine. It’s like, nectar of the gods. You’re totally making these for me every day now.”

  
“Getting a little ahead of yourself there, aren’t you? I’m not your personal slave, Lewis.”

  
“Are you saying you wouldn’t want to be at my beck and call?” She fluttered her eyelashes at him and sipped at her drink some more.

  
“Depends on what you were becking and calling me for, I s’pose,” he replied, matching her drink for drink and slowly running his eyes up and down her body again, not bothering to hide it this time.

  
She sat up and leaned towards him. “I’m open to suggestions.”

  
Brock was on the verge of suggesting she take her dress off - he'd noticed the bikini straps straight away - when she yawned.

  
Brock almost groaned. He had managed to forget that Darcy had just made two portal trips in less than half hour of her own personal time and here he was, letting her drink cocktails. Jane was going to kill him.

  
“Oh, daaaammit,” she yawned again. “I'm...so...slee-”

  
Brock just managed to catch her glass as she passed out.

  
Putting it back on the tray, he poured himself another drink from the jug, added a generous slug of extra rum, and settled down to wait for Darcy to wake up again.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the weird formatting, I'm posting this chapter from my tablet:-)


	6. Napping Under The Sun

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy sleeps, Brock broods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August 6: Napping under the sun
> 
> I always knew this was going to be a shorter chapter in an effort to catch up but shorter didn't mean easier and so I'm still running behind... oh, well. Thems the breaks.
> 
> Thanks to chrisshr for the beta, however I added more afterwards (and she's sleeeeeeeping now!) so any mistakes, and the abuse of comma's are all mine.

**Napping Under The Sun**

* * *

 

Darcy slept and slept and slept. For several minutes after her sudden descent into slumber, Brock just sat and watched her sleep, sipping on the rest of his drink while she lay there, her innocent young face peaceful in the dappled sunlight. It was a sight that gave him pause, and the thought flitted through his mind that maybe they'd both been saved from a big mistake. After a while, he retrieved his jacket to cover her as a breeze blew up, cooling the air a little. He poured himself another drink before sitting down again, but only took a few mouthfuls before sinking back into contemplation.

  
The rattling sound of a palm frond falling onto a roof startled him out of his reverie. A quick glance across the table showed Darcy still sleeping undisturbed, and the remnants of the mojitos melted into an undrinkable mess. Standing up, he tipped the remaining contents of the jug into the garden bed and then dumped it and the glasses on the front of the bar.

  
Out of habit and a reluctance to fall into bad habits, he walked a patrol of the area, weaving in and out of the pool area so he could keep an eye on Darcy at the same time. He hadn't found anything yet on the island that would endanger the two women, or compromise his mission, but it didn't pay to become complacent.

  
Returning to the pool area he sat down again and realised that even with the breeze, it was still very warm by the pool, especially in his shirt and long pants. After checking that Darcy was still fast asleep, he stripped down to his boxer briefs and slid quietly into the pool.

  
He struck out along the length of the pool with long, even strokes, his hands slicing into the water with a minimum of splash and noise each time. He didn't stop until he lost count and, after checking on Darcy - who had curled onto her side, but was still sleeping, he rolled onto his back and floated aimlessly.

  
His mind would not rest. He was absolutely positive that she’d only flirted with him at the lab to relieve the boredom and maybe in an effort to influence him in their favour. He’d gone along with it because- well, firstly, because Fury’s exact words were “I don't care about the equipment. You keep Foster and Lewis onside and safe, no matter what other orders you get.”

  
Secondly, it didn't hurt any that she was smart, and funny, and beautiful, and what - if he was going to be completely honest with himself - red-blooded man wouldn’t have flirted back?

  
Even a worn out, old soldier like him, who’d made (and was still making) too many sacrifices in the name of his country to ever deserve someone as innocent and carefree as her.

  
**She** deserved better.

  
He flipped back onto his stomach and swam silently to the side of the pool to check on Darcy again. Resting his chin on his arms, he watched her chest rise and fall with slow, steady breaths. She was still fast asleep.

  
He peered up at the angle of sun, which was now much lower than last time he checked. If she didn’t wake up soon, he’d have to carry Darcy back to the villa so she could sleep safely while he prepared dinner.

  
Pushing off the edge, he did a few more laps before climbing out and going to wash the salt and chlorine from his body.

 


	7. Clothing Optional

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gratuitous nudity. That's it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> August 7: Clothing optional
> 
> OMG, this was so hard to write but I got there in the end!!! Hugest hugs and kisses to Chrissihr for going above and beyond, helping me wrestle this chapter into shape.
> 
> Anyway, enjoy *grins and waggles eyebrows*

**Clothing optional**

* * *

 

When Darcy woke, the sun was sinking rapidly towards the horizon and there was no sign of Brock. Still half asleep and reluctant to move, she lay there, eyes only half open and not really seeing what she was looking at. It took her a few minutes to realise that the jug and glasses were gone from the table, and there was no sign of Brock in the seat opposite her.

  
Stretching languorously, she brushed the hair from her face and sat up. The jacket slid off her and she grabbed it as it fell. She folded it absentmindedly as she looked around for Brock, but there was no sign of him. The bar was still open and, when she stood up, she saw the shirt and pants discarded carelessly on the end of Brock's sun lounge.

  
Somewhere nearby, she heard the sound of running water, which immediately drew her attention to a desperate need. She needed a bathroom, pronto.

  
It was hard trying to walk with your legs crossed.

  
Looking around frantically for the ladies room she knew had to be here somewhere, she spotted a familiar symbol with a convenient arrow showing her which way to go.

  
She shuffled inelegantly along the path, clenching all the important muscles tightly. The path turned a tight corner and forked. She followed the sign to the right, found the ladies room right in front of her, and a short time later was washing her hands and feeling so much better. Now she discovered a new need. Actually, a couple of new needs. First, she was starving. Thinking about it while she made her way back along the path, she realised she hadn’t eaten anything since the hike to the waterfall. And she’d portalled twice since then.

  
Secondly, she was hot and sticky from sleeping in the sun half the afternoon. So shower and food, probably in that order. Her tummy gurgled loudly. Or maybe food, then a shower, then more food. Which meant she needed to find Brock. Or did she? She wandered along the path, deep in thought and not really noticing where she was going, so when the path ended rather abruptly, it took her a second or two to realise it.

  
She had wandered into a smallish courtyard lined on all sides with flowering shrubs scattered between tall trees and throughout the space, providing both colour and scent. Against one wall, she spotted a large bathtub on a raised wooden platform, a towel rail, and a small table placed conveniently next to it. What really caught her attention, though, was the shower on the adjacent wall.

  
Because Brock was standing under it.

  
And he wasn't wearing anything. At all.

  
A squeaky little noise that could only be described as “Ngh,” escaped Darcy’s throat and her mouth fell open.

  
When he stripped his shirt off at the waterfall, Darcy felt woefully unprepared for the sight of what was, frankly, an absolutely superb display of muscles and bronzed skin.

  
And in spite of that exposure, she was even more unprepared for the picture of masculinity on exhibit in front of her now.

  
She could feel her mind turning into an incoherent muddle of admiration, lust, and a desire to touch - possibly even worship - the Adonis standing in the water.

  
Darcy may have perfected the art of casual flirtation, but in reality, she could count the number of men she'd seen naked and in close proximity on one hand.

  
And none of them were men like this one.

  
Brock made all her previous … encounters … look like boys. They’d all been within a few years of her own age, last vestiges of teenage puppy fat clinging to their bodies, and most with barely any more experience than her.

  
But Brock … Brock obviously put a lot of effort into his body. It didn’t look like he had a spare ounce of fat on him at all and all the muscles she could see - and there were a lot of them - were muscles that looked well used and maintained. Nothing boyish about him at all.

  
So Darcy looked, feet stuck to the spot, bottom lip clenched firmly between her teeth, one hand absently twisting into the skirt of her dress while the other one rested on a convenient branch for support as she took it all in.

  
He was facing away from her, lathering up his hair, suds dripping down broad shoulders built for strength and thickly muscled arms that could move a tree trunk (and not a small tree trunk either. A good sized tree trunk.) His lean back was mostly smooth, but she had noticed some scars at the waterfall and they only added to the appeal in her opinion. The sudsy water running down the hard muscles of his back and narrow waist made his skin glisten and shine in the flashes of sunlight peeking through the trees.

  
His ass wasn’t quite as tanned as the rest of him, but she couldn’t see a defined line. This line of thought distracted her for a little while as she wondered just when, where, and how he managed that, and then he ducked his head under the water and spray went everywhere. Shards of sunlight flashed off the water droplets and she blinked, recalling her attention to the reality in front of her.

  
The view was perfect and Darcy drank it all in like she’d just spent a month in the desert.

  
He'd turned a little while she was distracted in her own thoughts and, in spite of her best intentions (she wasn't a perv, thankyouverymuch, although the current situation may lead a person to think otherwise), her eyes dropped for a quick glance at the prize. At least, it was meant to be a quick glance, but he was moving around a little as he finished rinsing off and it kept moving in and out of view. What she could see just made her want a better look.

  
“Did you want something or are you just gonna gawk all day?”

  
She jerked her eyes up to see that Brock had turned his head to look at her, the lazy grin that always made her stomach flip perched cockily on his face, and felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

  
Words. She needed words. He was obviously expecting her to reply…

  
“Uh … You knew I was here all along?”

  
“I know when people are sneaking up on me,” he replied. “It's my job.”

  
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind an ear, looking up at him from under her lashes. “I wasn’t trying to sneak up on you. I just lost my way coming back from the bathroom.” She looked around the courtyard and shrugged. “Finding this place was just lucky, I guess.”

  
“There’s a lot of that goes on around here. So what do you want?” Brock asked, turning around fully to look at her. She met his gaze, wondering what he was thinking behind those enigmatic brown eyes.  
She had a sneaking suspicion he was laying down a challenge for her, waiting to see if she picked up the gauntlet or not. Dammit, she had two choices - run away and die of embarrassment, or stand her ground and see what happened.

  
She licked her lips and smiled sweetly. “Nothing, really. I was just enjoying the view, that's all.”

  
Taking a deep breath, she slowly and deliberately raked her eyes up and down his body, taking a long, slow look at everything, starting with his tightly muscled chest, and arms that were so lean, she could see several very prominent veins snaking along them.

  
His abs were perfectly toned, with that washboard look about them. She half-suspected those abs were being tightly controlled - nobody's abs looked like that normally, but they did draw the eye down to the prize. His thick, heavy cock.

  
She resisted the urge to fan herself as she lifted her eyes back to his face. How far did she really want to take this? How far did he want to take it? It was just a harmless flirtation, right? Or was it?

  
“Well, I got really hot,” she said, taking a step towards him, “during my nap this afternoon.”

  
“Did you now?” He was watching her with a look that was both wary and amused.

  
“A-huh. Sticky, too. Sweaty.” She took another step. “A shower sounds really nice.”

  
He nodded, looked as if he was going to say something, then turned abruptly, switching the water off and grabbing the towel, which he slung around his waist in one swift move. “Well, I'm done if you want to use this one.”

  
She turned sideways as he brushed past without looking at her, picking up a discarded pair of underwear on the way.

  
“Don't you wanna stay and help scrub my back?” she called after him.

  
He shook his head, not looking back. “I need to start cooking. I'm sure your back will be fine without my help.”

  
He disappeared down the path and Darcy was left wondering what just happened.

 

* * *

 

 

Brock strode along the path quickly. Darcy’s unexpected appearance in the outdoor bathroom he’d stumbled over had thrown him. Her unabashed appreciation of his body ignited things deep inside him that he wasn’t particularly interested in analysing right now. Well, most of him wasn’t interested. Okay, a small part of him wasn’t interested.

  
He snorted mirthlessly. Who was he kidding? Every fibre of his being was interested. He'd been falling in ‘interest’ ever since he first laid eyes on her in New Mexico. And some bits of him were so interested, he’d had to grab his towel and hightail it out of there before she noticed exactly how interested he was.  
She deserved better.

  
He had to believe that. He had to keep telling himself that. Hell, he had no business being interested in a girl that was barely entering her third decade when he was well into his fourth. No matter how sweet and warm and caring she was. Ten years ago, he could have had someone like her - a life with everything she had to offer, but now… Getting involved with him would just complicate her life. She didn't need a cold-blooded killer who lied and cheated for a living. And just one slip could leave him dead. Or worse. That wouldn't be fair to her.

  
She didn't need that.

  
She. Deserved. Better.

  
“I don’t need this,” he muttered, grabbing his clothes from the pool area. “I don’t need this. You hear me? I don’t. Need. This.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *cackles*
> 
> Also, posting from my tablet again so apologies for the formatting.


	8. Sunburns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brock reminisces, Jane sticks to the letter - not the spirit - of her promise, and Darcy bakes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG. This chapter was a bitch. I'm never giving characters Feelings again. It took me like, three different versions to get to this. Also there is plot. 
> 
> HUGE thanks to Chrissihr who saved it from being an ugly mess, she deserves ALL the cake. Let's all cross our fingers for faster updates from now on!
> 
> Also, blink and you'll miss the prompt for this chapter :-)

 

Brock jogged along the beach, trying his hardest not to think about Darcy. It was a lot harder than he expected because the more he tried to _not_ think about her, the more he _did_ think about her.

The first time he saw her, he was part of the team assigned to help return Dr. Foster’s equipment after Thor’s departure in New Mexico, which meant he was in the old car dealership when Coulson returned Darcy’s iPod to her. She alternated between righteous indignation that it was taken in the first place, and satisfied joy at having it back.

Brock wasn't close enough to hear what was said, but after a few minutes she laughed with pure delight and zero inhibition, an infectious sound that caught everyone's attention. It brought a smile to every face except Coulson, whose poker face was legendary, and Sitwell, who was a joyless bastard at the best of times.

He gave a little shake of his head to throw off the memory and his mind drifted back to this afternoon.

The look on her face when he turned around in the shower was one of absolute appreciation and one of the biggest temptations he ever had to resist. He almost couldn’t, and trying to run himself to exhaustion really wasn't distracting him. He didn't make mistakes very often but he was already beginning to think he shouldn't have run off like that. Maybe … maybe he handled it all wrong. His traitorous mind leapt straight to wondering how it might feel to have all her softness pressed against him.

He groaned and ran faster.

Reaching the end of the beach, he stopped to catch his breath, almost doubled over as he dragged air into his heaving lungs. He forced himself to stand up, shoulders back and breathing heavily. As his breathing gradually evened out, he straightened up and looked around. In his effort to distract himself, he ran farther than usual and faced a heavily forested headland, jutting out into the sea like a giant … foot. The sun blazed mere inches above the horizon, sinking swiftly towards the ocean even as he watched.

Panting, he turned back towards the resort and headed for the villa, jogging at a slower pace this time. When he got back, the only light on was in the kitchen and he eased himself in, checking for any sign of Darcy. Her bedroom door was closed and, when he checked the kitchen, all the leftovers had been put away neatly, but her dirty plate sat in the sink.

Making as little noise as possible, he fixed himself something to eat, filled the dishwasher, and took another shower before going to bed. It was necessary after destroying all the benefits of his earlier shower by running hell for leather up a beach like an idiot.

He spent the entire shower pausing frequently to listen for noise in the other room. He tossed and turned all night, plagued by second thoughts and disturbing dreams. He woke up bone weary and feeling like he hadn't slept at all, forgoing his usual morning workout in favour of coffee and sitting on the patio lost in thought.

Jane showed up barely an hour after sunrise the next morning - unkempt, bleary eyed, and pink across the nose and cheeks.

“I thought you promised Lewis you wouldn't drive at night?” he asked when she walked up the front steps.

“Actually, the exact phrasing was ‘drive _up_ the mountain at night,’ so technically I can drive _down_ it any time I want. Is there coffee yet?”

“Just making more now,” he replied, pushing up from his seat and following her into the kitchen. “Thought you would've been here sooner, actually.”

“I was out inspecting the submillimeter array,” Jane said, flopping into a kitchen chair, “and by the time I finished, it was almost dark, and I was tired and hungry.”

“So that whole ‘technically I can drive down any time’ thing is-”

“Best done at first light,” she finished. “I'm not stupid.”

“That’s debatable - you’re sunburnt.”

“Only a little bit. I was wearing a hat, but I forgot about the reflective glare.” She shrugged, taking the cup of coffee he offered her and blowing on it. He picked up his own mug and they headed back outside.

“So how is she this time?” Jane asked as they settled at the table.

“Exhausted,” he said. “She fell asleep in the middle of a sentence yesterday afternoon.” He very carefully didn't mention the cocktails or the shower. “Woke up long enough to shower and eat-” at least he assumed she showered after he fled, “-then went back to sleep.”

“She'll be hungry when she wakes up then,” Jane murmured, staring sightlessly into her coffee.

“I was gonna do some cooking after breakfast,” he assured her, cradling his own coffee between his palms.

“How much longer do you think she'll sleep for?”

“A few more hours, maybe?” He squinted at the sun, gauging its position. “It's been ten or eleven now.”

“I don't think we should try portalling again yet,” Jane said. She took a large gulp of her rapidly cooling coffee.

“I agree. She needs time to recover properly.”

“Yes, that. And I don't know what other side effects there might be.”

“You think that's likely?” he asked, trying very hard to keep his tone casual and not let any worry seep into it.

Jane shrugged. “Who knows? My heart says everything’ll be fine, but my brain begs to differ. Anyway,” she gulped at her coffee again, “it'll also give me time to work on another version of the miniature portal device. I have an idea I want to try out.”

Brock nodded and drained his neglected coffee. “You get to tell her then, and if you need a hand with anything…” He knew she wouldn't. She barely tolerated his presence in the observatory, only accepting his help when she was desperate or needed something heavy moved. With Darcy here, he would be relegated entirely to pack mule.

“Yeah, I do actually. I brought a crate of bits and pieces down with me. If you can bring it in from the car, I'd be very grateful.”

By the time Darcy woke up again, Brock was finishing up the last bits of salad for their brunch and Jane was elbow deep in a new gadget, screwdriver in one hand and tweezers in the other.

“Morning, Lewis,” he greeted her when she padded softly into the living area, looking half asleep and rubbing at her eyes. He felt a sharp stab of regret at the sight of her - hair all mussed from sleep and looking completely kissable, but pushed it away ruthlessly. “Hungry?”

Her hands dropped to reveal pink cheeks. Wide eyes stared at him as if she didn't realise he was there. Her eyes darted away and she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear with a shaky hand.

“Um, yeah,” she said, turning her back towards him and looking out the window. “Did I hear Jane?”

“She's on the patio,” he said, putting his knife down. He wiped his hands on a towel and moved towards her, wanting to say something about yesterday but unsure of what.

Without looking at him, she started towards the door. “Thanks,” she said, her voice overly bright and a little squeaky.

He stopped mid-step, frowning at the un-Darcy-like behaviour.

Maybe Jane had a point about portal effects.

He was about to ask how she was feeling when Jane came in from the patio.

“Oh, Darcy. I’m so sorry,” she said, wrapping her arms around her in a comforting hug.

“What? Why? What for?” Darcy said, darting a startled, questioning look in Brock’s direction.

“For screwing up that damn portal and putting you through all that.” Jane pulled back to inspect Darcy, running a critical eye up and down, and then peering into her face. “Are you okay?”

“Oh. Yeah, yeah,” Darcy said. “I’m fine, Jane. Just sleeping a lot, then eating a lot and then sleeping some more! I’m fine.” She smiled, but Brock knew the difference between a real smile and the one on Darcy’s face. She raked her hand through her hair to pull it away from her face, but immediately let it fall back.

Really. I just need something to eat. And coffee.”

“Are you sure?” Jane asked. “You have to let me know immediately if you notice any other side effects from your frequent, repeated portalling, other than the fatigue and hunger.”

“I’m fine, Jane,” Darcy said confidently, patting Jane firmly on the shoulder as she was enveloped in another hug. Darcy darted another nervous look at Brock before bestowing all her attention on Jane.

“Okay. Good.” Jane let her go with a few final words. “Well, if anything changes - _anything at all,_ you let me know. Right away!”

Darcy rolled her eyes at the persistence. “Don’t worry. You’ll be the first to know if anything weird starts happening. Now, can I eat? I’m starving!”

“Brunch is on the patio,” Brock said, turning back to the kitchen counter. “I'll be out with coffee in a minute.”

Darcy didn't look at him again before trailing Jane outside. He followed her with his eyes as she disappeared through the door and then turned his attention to the coffee pot.

During the weeks before Darcy’s initial arrival on the island, Jane told him Darcy wouldn’t let her talk shop during meals, mainly because it usually meant Jane took an hour or more to eat because she kept getting distracted. Jane also confessed that she didn’t object to it anymore because it meant her meals were always hot and she could get back to work faster. They both agreed to enforce that rule on the island, but on this particular occasion, he wasn’t surprised when, halfway through the meal, an unusually quiet Darcy broke it. It was a tricky situation they were in.

“Um, okay,” she started. “What's the situation? When are we going to try going home again?”

“Well, I want to make sure you're fully recovered before we go anywhere,” Jane replied, stabbing some banana with a fork, “so not for at least a week.”

“A week?” The look on Darcy’s face was one of surprise and dismay. “Why so long?”

“We've both had a lot longer than you to recover from the effects of the portal,” Jane explained, “and you went through twice in less than half an hour. You've had less than a day’s worth of recovery and, from what Rumlow’s told me, you've spent most of it sleeping.”

“I feel okay,” Darcy protested weakly. “Can't I just rest once we get home?”

Jane looked a little taken aback at this. “But I thought you'd be glad to stay here a bit longer.”

Darcy shook her head. “I think I've had enough, Jane. Totally ready to go back.”

Jane turned a confused face towards Brock. Given Darcy’s enthusiasm for the resort attractions, neither of them were expecting any objections. This was unexpected. The relationship between the two women was fairly even, but Darcy had a lot of practice getting Jane to do what Darcy thought was best. Admittedly, from what he’d seen, Darcy was usually right, but this was one time Jane needed to prevail.

“We’re not going to risk it,” Brock said firmly. “We wait until you’re completely recovered.”

Darcy ignored him, looking only at Jane. “Do you really think it’s that bad?”

“I had two days between portals and I've only just stopped being exhausted,” Jane said, a look of concern wrinkling her brow.

“Yeah, but I bet you went back to the observatory as soon as you napped long enough to drive safely and have been going non-stop ever since,” Darcy grumbled. “You're not a good example.”

“This isn't a debate, Lewis,” Brock said.

“C'mon, Darcy,” said Jane, her eyes pleading. “It's not that bad. We can finish all the vacation activities we didn't get to do before.”

Darcy poked at the remains of her fruit salad, but didn't look up. Her face was mostly pale, with dark circles under her eyes, two bright spots of colour in her cheeks, and she had none of her usual spark.

“This isn’t an argument I’m going to win, is it?” she asked at last.

“Sorry, Lewis,” Brock said, trying hard to put a tone of sympathy into voice, “but I think we should trust the expert on this.”

“Yeah, well,” she said, waving a listless hand at Jane. “Jane’s right - we have no idea what the portal does to us. We could be melting from the inside even as we speak,” she continued sourly. “We should totally take the opportunity to have fun while we’ve got it.”

Jane blanched. “Well, I don’t think it’s that bad!”

Darcy snorted half-heartedly, reaching out to pat Jane on the arm. “Sorry, Jane. That was a bad joke. I know how careful you are with your gadgets.”

Jane sniffed. “I think you're doing a really good job of proving my point about frequent portalling right now, Darcy. This isn't like you at all.”

“I-” Darcy started, then shot Brock another sideways glance, flushed red and shut her mouth. “Sorry, Jane,” she said a moment later.

Brock stood up and started to gather the empty plates together. Darcy was definitely behaving strangely, but he wasn't convinced it was because of the portalling. “Why don’t you ladies take a walk while I take care of the dishes?”

“Are you sure?” Jane turned an uncertain gaze on him. “We’re happy to help.”

“Thanks, but I’ve got it. Most of it’ll go in the dishwasher.”

“Actually, a walk sounds good,” Darcy said, and he thought there was a tone of relief in her voice now.

"Come on, Jane, leave him to it. It feels like ages since we’ve just had time for us.” She got up from the table. “I’ll go change and put some shoes on, and we can go.”

“Take a hat!” Brock called after Darcy. “I don’t need anyone else getting sunburnt.” He turned a stern eye on Jane. “That goes for you, too,” he said. “Go on.”

“Don't worry, I will,” Jane muttered as she got up and followed Darcy inside.

Brock finished clearing the table while the women got organised. Jane was first to reappear, grabbing a bottle of water out of the fridge and then going to wait for Darcy outside.

Darcy reappeared several minutes later, hat in hand, wearing a long sleeved cotton shirt and three-quarter cargo pants.

“Sunscreen's on the table,” he said, turning the water on to fill the sink.

“Thanks,” she said, picking it up and heading outside without another word. Half a minute later, she was back.

“Forgot water,” she said, going into the fridge. She was halfway back out the door when she stopped, took a deep breath, and turned back.

“Um, I just wanted to say, I'm very sorry for my behaviour yesterday, ‘cause, ya know, it was really inappropriate and I should've just turned around and left as soon as I realised where I was and that you were nak- Oh god. I am _super_ embarrassed, and I just wanna assure you that it won't happen again,” she blurted out so quickly he could only just follow the words tumbling out of her mouth. “We can like, totally just pretend it never happened, okay? Like, forgotten. Completely. And I'll just … like, keep my distance from now on. Okay? Will _not_ happen again. Okay. I'm really sorry. Really. Sorry. Okay, bye!”

For a guy whose life depended on paying attention and quick reflexes, he took far too long to react and, by the time he turned around, she was gone again.

Standing at the sink, he replayed her words in his head, coming to the conclusion that he definitely needed to make an apology of his own because there was no way he was going to forget. He didn't want to forget.

 

* * *

 

Darcy and Jane ambled along the high tide line of the beach in silence, taking turns to occasionally bend down and pick up a shell or broken piece of reef. Darcy was still recovering from the rushed and garbled apology she word-vomited at Brock in the kitchen. She spent a whole ten minutes rehearsing it while she got changed, but it still came out a rambling mess. Telling him she was super embarrassed about what happened was 100% the absolute truth, but somehow, she almost felt even worse now. She wondered if it would be possible to stay here for another whole week without seeing him at all?

“You were eager to get out of there,” Jane said after they'd walked for several minutes without saying anything. “I thought you’d be happy to just sit around for a bit and then have another sleep.”

Darcy shook her head. Time to pretend she was A.O.K. “I’m feeling very energetic right now, Jane. I needed to get out. Anyway, I feel like we haven’t had any quality girl time for a while. I want to spend some time with _you_.” She gave Jane her sunniest smile.

Jane cast her a perplexed sideways glance, disbelief creasing her face. “We spend _all_ our time together.”

“Well, normally, yes,” Darcy said. “But lately, it hasn’t just been us, you know?”

“I thought you liked Rumlow,” Jane said. “You never objected to having him around before.”

“I do like him,” Darcy agreed, “but he's not exactly one of us, is he?”

Jane turned her head to look at Darcy properly.

“Alright, what happened?” she asked.

Darcy turned an indignant look on Jane. “What makes you think something happened? I can't want to have girl time?”

Jane blinked. “We've never had ‘girl time’. The closest we get to ‘girl time’ is when you make me take a shower and throw clean underwear at me.”

“All the more reason to start then,” Darcy declared. “We should totally, like, go and give each other manicures at the spa or something.”

“Well, okay. If you really want to.”

“I want to.” Darcy smiled.

“Now tell me what happened between you and Rumlow.”

Darcy groaned and rolled her eyes. “I completely humiliated myself, Jane. And I think I made it worse when I tried to apologise and just tripped over my own tongue instead.”

Jane listened in fascination as Darcy told her the story.

“... and then he grabbed his towel and disappeared so fast, I almost get whiplash thinking about it,” Darcy finished.

Jane gaped for a minute and then snapped her mouth shut, shaking her head. “And the apology?”

Darcy told her both what she planned and rehearsed, and what had come out.

“Did you even give him a chance to respond?”

“What? No! I hotfooted it out of there pronto! I wasn't about to hang around for more embarrassment!”

“Oh, Darcy.”

“What do I do now?”

“Do you think he'll go along with the ‘pretend it never happened/forget about it’ plan?”

Darcy shrugged.

“Do you _want_ him to go along with the ‘pretend it never happened/forget about it’ plan?” Jane asked.

“It's probably for the best,” Darcy said. “Because I'd really like to avoid further mortification.”

“Okay. What if- what if _he_ doesn't want to do that?”

“He was the one who did the disappearing act, Jane!”

“Well, what would you have done in his position?”

“I-” Darcy paused. “Uh. I'd probably have run away, too? I think? I don't know!” she finished on a wail.

“Do you even like him as more than our friendly security detail? I mean - apart from how he looks, of course - you just told me more than I _ever_ needed to know about that. I know you two flirt all the time, but I never thought it was serious.”

“I don't know,” Darcy admitted. This was a question she'd only just started asking herself. “It was always just … fun, you know?” She thought about it, trying to articulate what she thought she was feeling. “Shit. I'm so confused, Jane. When he left, it took a moment for it to like, penetrate? And then it was like my stomach fell out of my body. It was like … you know when you thought that one present under the Christmas tree was something you were really excited about and then it turned out to be something completely different? I felt like that. And it was kind of unexpected.”

“Huh,” said Jane. “That kinda sounds a little bit like a crush to me.”

Darcy looked up, startled. “What? No! I'd know if I was crushing on the dude, Jane. How do you have a crush on someone and not even realise? I just think he's super hot, that's all.”

“Are you listening to yourself?”

“Nope. No way, Jane. I am _not_ crushing on the sexy soldier.”

“Sure you aren't, Darcy,” Jane said, bending over to pick up another shell. “Obviously, I'm mistaken.”

“ _Obviously_ ,” Darcy repeated. They continued up the beach in companionable silence, only speaking to show each other the different shells they picked up.

The villa was empty when they got back. Tired from the walk, Darcy showered before flopping onto one of the day beds for a nap while Jane settled herself at the table and resumed work on her new project.

Darcy couldn't settle. She tossed and turned and wriggled and fidgeted. She tried to concentrate on the lulling sounds of waves breaking on the beach and birds singing in the trees, but no matter how much she wanted to drift off to sleep, she stayed firmly awake.

“Jane, I can't sleep,” she whined.

“Then don't, “ Jane replied without looking at Darcy.

“But I'm tired.”

“Then sleep.”

“You're not helping.” Darcy crossed her arms and pouted. “I can't settle enough to sleep. I'm all twitchy.”

“Then _do_ something instead of whining at me,” Jane said, finally looking over at Darcy. “Why don't you bake something? Make me some brownies or something.”

“Brownies sound good,” Darcy said. “Do we have all the ingredients?”

“Go have a look,” Jane said. “I can't see why not.”

Darcy climbed to her feet and shuffled into the kitchen. It only took a few minutes of hunting through cupboards to find everything she needed for her favourite recipe, and she set to work.

 

* * *

 

Brock was halfway back to the villa when he got the first whiff of something cooking. He took a deeper breath, trying to identify the odours drifting past him on the breeze.

Something sweet. And … chocolately? He quickened his pace.

When he rounded the last corner in the path, he saw Jane working on her project on the patio, which meant it must be Darcy in the kitchen.

“How was the walk?” he asked Jane as his foot hit the top step.

She looked up from her work, squinting into the sunlight. “It was good,” she replied, giving him a rare smile. “Darcy was still fidgety when we got back though, so I suggested she bake something.”

He glanced inside. “It smells good,” he said. “What is it?”

Jane sat up and stretched. “Brownies.”

“Huh. I can't remember the last time I had a brownie,” he mused.

“Well, you're in for a treat. Darcy can only cook about three things, but she's an amazing baker.”

“Is that why you two live on junk food and frozen dinners?” he asked.

“Hey!” Jane said. “We do our best. I can cook a couple of things if I absolutely have to and Darcy's got her three so she's one up on me, but we rarely have the time for that kind of cooking. Darcy always says how she wants to learn how to cook better, but never actually does it.” She bent back to her work, then paused and looked up at him again. “You're a good cook - maybe you could give her some lessons?”

He didn't answer straight away. The idea was both appealing and terrible. On one hand, he'd get to spend more time with Darcy, but on the other hand, he'd have to spend more time with Darcy. And then there was the bit where she said she was going to stay away from him.

“Please,” Jane whispered at him. “I didn't realise how much I missed proper food until we ended up here! I've become accustomed!” She gave him a pleading look and he sighed.

“I'll offer if it comes up,“ he said, “but I'm not promising anything.” Not when Darcy had essentially declared her intention to avoid him. That was going to make things uncomfortable for everyone. No, he had to fix this.

Jane beamed at him and went back to her work.

He took a long slow breath and turned to the door. Time to make his own apology.

The brownies smelled even better inside. Darcy stood at the bench, her back to the rest of the room, watching an electric mixer do its thing, a spatula held loosely in one hand. She hummed and swayed from side to side, the hypnotising movement of her hips driving all other thoughts from his mind. Silently chastising himself, he dragged his eyes away and moved into the room.

“Smells good in here,” he commented, bending slightly to peer into the oven before taking a bottle of water from the fridge and retreating to the other side of the small dining table.

She stopped moving as soon as he spoke, her entire body tensing up as she turned the mixer off.

“Um, thanks,” she said just as the oven timer went off. “Oh, there we go.”

He watched as she bent to pull the pan from the oven, resolutely keeping his eyes above her waist. He wouldn't expect her to accept his apology if she caught _him_ ogling _her_. This wasn't a tit for tat situation. When she turned and placed the pan on the cooling rack, he noticed the circles under her eyes had darkened. It worried him.

“You look tired,” he said. “Why the sudden urge to bake? You should be sleeping.”

The last words came out harsher than he intended. She scowled briefly, but didn't say anything, turning back to the mixer instead. She lifted the arm and detached the whisk before removing the bowl.

“Why aren't you resting?” he asked, trying for a softer tone.

“I _tried_ resting,” she said as she turned back to the counter with the bowl, “but I couldn't keep still. Seriously, I've never felt so damn twitchy in my life.” She stared down at the brownie, her whole body sagging slightly, and it occurred to him that he'd never seen her anything less than cheerful before today.

"Is that normal?” She glanced around, looking everywhere except at him and worrying her bottom lip with her teeth. “The restless, fidgety thing. Or could it be one of those extra side effects Jane was talking about earlier? I don't remember it from the first time we portalled.”

“I-” He paused for a moment. He wasn't a restless person normally, but he had noticed an upswing in his need to keep moving in the days after each portalling. Foster had been more fidgety than usual too, he realised.

“Yeah. Yeah, that's normal,” he said. “You probably didn't notice it the first time because we were keeping busy.”

“Oh. Good. That's good.” Darcy looked back down at the brownie and set her mouth in a firm line. “You know, this is supposed to sit and cool for a stupid length of time, but I don't wanna wait.”

She set three plates on the counter and attacked the brownie with a large spoon, scooping sizable chunks onto the plates.

“Aren't you supposed to cut it?” he asked.

“Eh. Does it really matter how you get it on the plate?” she asked, twisting to pick up the mixing bowl, from which she spooned out equally large blobs of whipped cream onto each of the plates.

“I guess not,” he said, deciding to broach the subject of her apology. “Look, about yesterday-”

The spoon dropped back in the bowl with a clatter and with a hurried, “I'm gonna take this out to Jane; that one's for you,” she grabbed two of the plates and disappeared out the door.

Brock looked at the empty doorway with mild surprise at the speed of Darcy's departure.

For a moment, he debated going after her. Pressing the issue. But then he looked at the remaining plate. There was almost more cream on it than there was brownie, and even though there was usually no room in his diet for sweet things, he moved to the counter and pulled it towards him.

Maybe this wasn't the right time for him to apologise yet, but he could damn well eat the brownie she offered him, and wait for her to be ready.

Reaching around the counter, he pulled the drawer out. At least he had a spoon.

 

* * *

 

 

Darcy slowly relaxed as she realised Brock wasn't following her. The last thing she wanted to talk about right now was yesterday.

Turning her attention to the table, she almost groaned.

“Jane, there's nowhere for me to put these plates. Can you clear me a space, please?” she pleaded.

Jane looked up, blinking as her focus adjusted. “Oh,” she said, “hang on.” As soon as Jane cleared enough space for the plates, Darcy set them down and collapsed into a chair.

“What even is that?” she asked, leaning forward for a better look.

“I'm attempting to miniaturise the portal device,” Jane replied, placing a tiny component into place with a pair of tweezers.

“I thought you already did that?” Darcy asked, reaching for the spoon on the side of her plate and finding nothing. “Shit. I forgot spoons,” she said. She debated going back inside, but decided it wasn't worth it. Fingers would do.

“I want see if I can make it small enough to fit into a handbag. Or backpack,” Jane said.

“So, like … cell phone size? Diary size? Button size?” Darcy blinked, leaning forward with her elbows on the table. “Why?”

“Cell phone size. Because it could be useful,” Jane said. “And I want to know if it's possible.”

“Okay,” Darcy replied. “I guess there's no reason why you can't make one that small except maybe finding small enough bits for it? And a suitable power source? Your prototype is 95% battery.”

“The prototype was connected directly to the power grid,” Jane corrected. “It was the framework that took up most of the space, and standard size components. Streamlining it enough to make the portable version was fairly simple. I should be able to reduce it even further. I just need suitable components.”

“But - what about the computer processing? And memory? You know, the brains of the device?” Darcy asked.

“I’ve already solved that problem,” Jane said, picking up another tiny electronic doodad and slotting it in. “Can you pass me the packet of LED’s please?”

Darcy pushed up out of her chair with a grunt of effort, sliding around to crouch down next to Jane's box of bibs and bobs.

“This would be a lot easier if you kept everything organised,” she complained as she rummaged around, carefully moving a small box of miniature drill bits out of the way.

“That’s why I have you,” Jane said.

Darcy passed over the packet of LED lights before diving back into the box. “Anything else you need while I’m in here?” she asked, shuffling things around in an attempt to bring a semblance of order to the contents.

“No, thanks.”

For a few minutes, the only sounds were Darcy scuffling and rummaging in the box, and Jane tinkering with her device until Darcy suddenly noticed something familiar right at the bottom of the box and gasped.

“My iPod!”

Pushing aside a box of resistors, she reached in and pulled it out, her breath catching as emotion welled up in her chest. She didn’t realise how much she missed it until she saw it.

“Jane! I found my iPod!”

And then she noticed that it didn’t quite look right. Sitting back on her heels, she turned it over in her hands before lifting narrowed eyes to look at Jane.

“Jane, what have you done to it?” she cried. “It’s- it’s in pieces!”

“I needed the parts,” Jane replied simply.

“But- you’ve killed it!” Darcy wailed.

Jane finally looked up from her work, setting her tools down carefully before speaking. “I’m sorry, Darcy, but I didn’t really have a choice. The circuit boards and memory from our phones weren’t enough. I had to use the ones from your iPod as well.”

Darcy blinked. “What on earth for, Jane?”

Jane waved a hand at the little device in front of her. “For this.”

Darcy looked at it properly for the first time. “Hey, that’s your phone!” she said, getting up and moving to sit down next to Jane so she could see properly.

Jane nodded. “I had to rewrite the program a little when I built the portable device. I realised yesterday morning when I went back up to the observatory that with a little more adjustment, and allowing for different processing capabilities, we could probably convert it to a phone application.”

“By we, I assume you mean me, right?” Darcy checked.

Jane nodded. “The program - as it is - just fits into the memory from your iPod and I need all three circuit boards to run it.”

“Why don’t you just use your tablet?”

“Because it’s the only copy of the original program and blueprints I have at the moment,” Jane reminded her. “I can’t risk losing it.”

Darcy slumped and stared at the empty carcass of her iPod. It had been through a lot.

“I will miss you, brave iPod,” she intoned mournfully.

Jane put an arm around Darcy’s shoulders and gently nudged the other woman’s head onto her shoulder. “If it helps, I did manage to copy all your music onto one of the computers up at the observatory.”

Darcy sniffled. “You did?”

“Of course,” Jane assured her, running her hand over Darcy’s hair soothingly. “I’m not a complete monster.”

A soft chuckle escaped Darcy and she sat up. “Well, not all the time.”

“Am I forgiven?” Jane asked. “Are we good, then?”

“Course we are, Jane. Hey, how come you had our phones and my iPod anyway? I didn’t think any of our stuff came through with us?”

Jane picked up her tools and resumed tinkering as she replied. “Remember when we portalled out during the storm?”

Darcy wrinkled her forehead. “Yeah … oh! OH! You had our bags! In a cupboard.” She looked at Jane in wonder. “I forgot about that.”

Jane nodded. “Everything we had on us when we went through the portal the first time came through with me.”

“But Brock and I were a good 20 seconds after you,” Darcy said.

Jane shrugged. “And look how long it took for you both to arrive here. I have no idea what factors caused all that to happen. Anyway, I woke up and our bags, my tablet, and all of Rumlow’s gear - you wouldn’t believe how many knives there were, Darce - was stacked neatly on a table.”

“Why didn’t you tell me when you told me about the portal machine you built?”

“I shoved it all in a cupboard and forgot about it,” Jane said. “Right up until we were about to leave.”

“I don’t remember seeing it when we fled that fire,” Darcy mused, reaching across the table for her water bottle. She twisted the cap off and took a mouthful.

“Wow, you really are messed up,” Jane murmured. “You really don't remember picking your bag up right before I turned on the portal?”

Darcy shook her head. “It's all a bit of a blur. So what happened to everything on that trip? Cos, like … you went through second.”

“Rumlow had it all,” Jane said, “and he handed it all straight back to me when I woke up here again.”

“What - all of it?” Darcy was surprised. “He didn’t even keep a knife?”

Jane shook her head. “Not that I'm aware of.”

“Wow,” Darcy breathed. Then she yawned. Loudly.

“Go to sleep,” Jane ordered. “You need it.”

“I don't know if I can,” Darcy said but she moved to the daybed anyway and this time she drifted off with no trouble at all.

 

* * *

 

 

By the time Brock ate, showered, dressed, and headed outside to join the two women, Darcy was snoring lightly on her daybed.

“She good now?” he asked Jane.

“She will be,” she assured him.

Satisfied that she was currently safe, he finished cleaning up the kitchen again, although there wasn't a lot to do as Darcy cleaned as she went. He stared into the fridge until it beeped at him, trying to decide what they were going to eat for dinner, eventually deciding that leftovers would do as his broken night's sleep finally caught up with him.

Jane was engrossed in her work and didn't even acknowledge him when he walked back outside. After a few minutes of watching her deftly manipulate the tiny parts she was working with, he shifted his attention to Darcy. She was curled on her side, arm prickled with goosebumps from the afternoon breeze. He fetched a light blanket to cover her with and then lay down on the other daybed, closed his eyes and drifted into a light sleep.

Irritated bickering dragged him back to consciousness.

“Jane, I'm bored.”

“Then find something to do.”

“There isn't anything to do.”

“Go for a walk.”

“I've been for a walk.”

“Go swimming then.”

“I don't feel like it.”

“Don't touch that.”

“If you hadn't wrecked my iPod, I'd have music to listen to.”

“We discussed this already, I needed-”

“-it for your doodad. I know.”

“Why don't you go take a sauna or something?”

“What, go to the unstaffed spa on my own? No, thanks. Why is this thing spread all over the table like this? It looks like you've dissected a body.”

“I said don't touch that.”

He cracked his eyes open to look at the two women. Darcy was reaching out to pick up the little electronic thing Jane was working on, and something about the look on Jane's face woke him up faster than any alarm. Before he could do more than sit up, Darcy poked at the red button in the middle of the gadget- “Darcy, NO!” -and he launched out of the daybed as she was enveloped by a bright purple glow and disappeared.

 

* * *

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *evil laugh* *cries*


	9. Disappearing Act

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jane and Brock react.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the suggestion of my wonderful beta, Chrissihr, I've decided to split up what I've written for the next prompt and post shorter chapters. Technically that would make this part of the sunburns prompt, but honestly, that chapter was a monster and I wish I’d thought to split it up as well. I might get them out a bit faster this way too.

* * *

Disappearing Act

* * *

 

 

Brock stumbled through where Darcy had been standing, caught himself, spun round, and lunged for the button.

Jane’s hand caught his wrist just in time.

“Don't!”

For a long moment, he stood there in stunned silence, heart racing, ears filled with the rushing sounds of wind and wave, and then a quiet, “Oh, fuck,” from Jane broke him out of his stupor. He snatched his hand out of her grasp.

“What the fuck just happened?” he demanded. “Where’s Darcy?”

“That shouldn't have happened,” Jane muttered. “That should NOT have happened,” she repeated, reaching out to the gadget sitting innocently on the table but not touching it.

“What the hell _is_ that thing?

“It's a miniature portal device,” Jane said faintly.

“A mini- She just portalled again?” he asked, not quite believing his ears.

“It shouldn't have worked yet!” Jane repeated, a combination of agitation and worry seeping into her voice. “I've only connected two of the batteries.” She pushed out of her seat and began to pace, arms crossed, fingers tapping on the bend of her elbow.

“Yeah, well it _did_ work “ Brock pointed out, feeling hard pressed to keep control of his temper when all he could think was _what if we can't find her_? “Where did she go?”

“How the hell do I know?” snapped Jane. “It's not supposed to work with only two batteries!”

“Yeah, well it did work. Now what I want to know, is can we get her back?” he demanded.

Jane stopped pacing.

“Oh, my god,” she said. “It worked. _It actually worked_ and- Oh, my god.” She looked up at him, eyes wide as the enormity of what happened finally hit her. “Oh, my god, I lost Darcy.” She collapsed back into her seat, moaning. “Oh, no.”

Brock rubbed a hand over his eyes, breathing deeply to force himself to calm down. They couldn’t afford for Jane to lose focus right now and if that meant suppressing his own worry to keep her calm, well, that's what he'd do. She was Darcy’s only hope.

“Okay,” he said. “You can do this. We’ll get her back.” His eyes shifted to the gadget. “If I touch that thing, will it take me to wherever Darcy went?”

“I don't know,” Jane groaned. “Probably. Maybe?”

Brock eyed Jane thoughtfully. First step, snap her out of her shock. He reached for the miniature portal device. “If I don’t touch the button, it should be safe to pick up, right?”

“What? No, wait! No! Don't touch it!” Jane leapt to her feet again, slapping his hand away and glaring at him. He grinned and stepped back, hands held out and away from everything.

“Even if it does take you right to Darcy, we can't do it that way because you won't have a way to come back.”

“But I’ll have that thing.” He nodded his head towards the device.

“I can’t guarantee it will work the way I planned it.” Jane picked up a tool that looked like the bizarre reincarnation of something a dentist might use and a pair of tweezers, poking at the wires protruding from the device. “I’m disconnecting the power until I can do this in a more controlled environment.”

“Okay, but what about Darcy? What’s your plan there?”

“You’ll have to go through the big portal, won’t you?” Jane said.

“And take the portable generator with me,” Brock said, catching on immediately. “Let's go.”

Fifteen minutes later, they were in the car, headed up the mountain as fast as the road would let them.  
They spent most of the trip in silence broken only by the scratching of pen on paper as Jane worked calculation after calculation. Eventually, she put the paper away and stared out the window at the trees whizzing by.

“Can I ask you a question?” she said as they broke through the treeline.

“You can ask,” he replied. “Doesn't mean I'll answer, though.”

“What are your feelings for Darcy?”

“She's a nice kid,” he said, trying to keep his tone casual and indifferent, not let any of his worry bleed into his voice.

“Really?” she replied. “That's all?” Even the amused tone of disbelief in her voice wasn’t enough for him admit anything.

“Why does there need to be more?” he asked, tightening his hands on the steering wheel.

“Because you reached for that button so fast, I almost didn't stop you in time. If that doesn't scream ‘I care for this person’, then I don't know what does.”

“I'm supposed to be keeping you both safe. It's my job. I can't do my job if you're not both where I can see you.”

“Hah,” Jane scoffed. “I know the difference between thinking with your head and thinking with your heart. You weren't thinking with your head.”

“Really? That's what you think?”

“Contrary to popular belief, I _do_ notice things,” Jane informed him, and when he snuck a sideways glance at her, she was watching him, a smug smile set firmly on her face. “I'm not completely obsessed with my work.”

“My feelings for Darcy aren't important,” he said, shaking his head slowly.

“I don't believe you.”

“I don't care.”

He could feel her eyes boring into him, trying to penetrate what he hoped was his usual mask of professional indifference.

“Alright,” she said after several minutes of silence. “But if you do anything to hurt her, I swear, I will portal your ass somewhere you’ll _never_ be able to get back from.”

He didn’t reply. He had no doubt whatsoever that Jane would follow through with that particular threat.

They rounded the last corner to the observatory, coming to a screeching stop right in front of the doors. Jane bolted from the car, disappearing through the doors while Brock was still pulling the handbrake into position.

Inside, Jane was already in front of the computer bank on the mezzanine, flicking switches and pushing buttons, moving quickly from computer to computer as she brought the portal system online.

“There's a bag in that cupboard,“ she said, pointing to a cupboard on the ground floor. “You might want what's in it.”

It was his weapons and tac gear.

“How long have I got?” he asked, starting to unpack the bag onto a table.

“About ten minutes,” Jane replied.

He stripped down to his underwear and began to redress. Looking up, he was surprised to see Jane watching, a very unimpressed look on her face. “What?”

“You couldn’t do that in another room?” she demanded.

“Nope,” he replied and pulled his vest on, securing it firmly.

He limited himself to his standard issue SIG Sauer, taser rods, and a pair of knives, grateful he'd taken time after the last trip through the portal to clean all his weapons. By the time Jane fired up the portal, all he had left to do was work out how to carry the portable generator without restricting his ability to fight, if needed. A minute or two of experimentation later, it was in a bag and strapped firmly to his back.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

He shook his head at the ridiculousness of the situation.

“I'm about to step through a portal I'm not even sure is gonna take me where I need to be, with clothes and weapons I'll have to go looking for before I can use them. Sure, I'm ready.”

“Don't worry. You'll get where you need to be,” Jane replied, a determined and confident expression on her face. “Just think about Darcy.”

He turned around, nodded curtly, and took the first step into the portal.

 

 


	10. Spas are mandatory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy makes the most of her situation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I mentioned at the beginning of the last chapter, I've decided to post shorter chapters, so here's the first chapter of the Spa prompt. Beta’d by Chrissihr but I've made edits since then so any mistakes are all my own.

Spas Are Mandatory

* * *

 

Darcy blinked, still looking down at her outstretched hand. The table was gone. Or - to be more accurate - she was gone from where she had been and was now somewhere completely different.  
Lifting her head, she took in her surroundings.

The room she stood in was bright white and cool blue, with hidden lighting that made the walls look like they glowed. It had a kind of modern super-tech feel to it, sort of like she was on a really fancy spaceship. All the walls were bare and steam wafted out of floor-level vents, leaving a heady smell of something floral in the air.

The room itself bulged out from a corridor like a bubble, and the only hint as to the purpose of the room was the furniture - a desk right behind her, protruding from the floor as if it had grown there, several comfortable looking chairs, and a sofa.

It felt like a waiting room.

Frosted glass doors at either end of the corridor led away from the room. She took a hesitant step-

“Welcome to the Dream Delights Spa. How may we help you today?”

Darcy spun on the spot. The person approaching her was tall, slender, and … didn’t quite look human, although she couldn’t quite put a finger on why she thought that. Darcy watched with cautious apprehension as the - thing? entity? being? - approached her.

“Er, hi!” she said and waved at it. Him. Her. “Um, I’m not actually not sure where I am?”

“This is the Dream Delights Spa and Wellness Center. I am Aida and I will be your attendant today.”

The being’s voice reminded Darcy of something or someone she couldn’t quite place and, now that it was standing right in front of her, she could see that even though it had a human face and form, it definitely wasn’t human. Or flesh. Would it be bad manners to ask if it was an android?

“A spa,” Darcy mused. “Like, massages and facials and manicures, and stuff?”

“Yes,” Aida replied. “Would you like to see the menu of services, or would you like our recommendations?”

“Wait - how did I get here? Where are Jane and Brock? How do I get back?”

“Transportation to and from the Spa is the client’s own responsibility.”

Darcy felt a moment of panic. Why did she have to touch that damn button? She knew better than to go near things while Jane was still working on them! Hell, she knew better than to touch anything that had its innards spread across a table!

Even as she felt the panic rise, it drifted away and she realised a moment later that she wasn’t feeling worried or scared. She vaguely wondered if there was something other than perfume in the steam, but didn’t linger on that thought for very long.

She looked back at the probably-an-android. “I don’t really know anything about spas, so maybe the recommendation thing would be best.”

A light unexpectedly issued from the probably-an-android's eyes and raked up and down her body like a giant fan.

“Woah, what’s going on? What was that?” she half-yelped, taking a step back.

“I am assessing your treatment needs and requirements,” the most-definitely-probably-an-android replied. “For optimum restoration, renewal, rejuvenation, and relaxation, we recommend the following treatments and therapies: steam room, full body scrub and exfoliation using sea salt crystals, mist room, full body massage, meditation, deep conditioning treatment, scalp massage, facial exfoliation, facial massage, restorative mask, full body wrap, coconut milk bath, heated marble bed exfoliation using crushed pearl and kelp mud, aromatherapy bath, foot scrub, pedicure, hand massage, manicure, water massage, hot rock therapy, yoga, diamond massage, mineral bath.”

Darcy gaped. She closed her mouth, opened it, took a deep breath, let it out again, blinked a few times, held up a questioning finger, opened her mouth again, and finally said, “I need all of that?” in a very small voice.

“It is recommended,” the android replied.

“Um, that’s a lot of stuff. How- How long is it gonna take?”

“Seven to ten days.”

Darcy’s jaw dropped again. “Okay, nope. That’s not gonna work. Can we maybe cut it down a bit? Like, a couple of hours and then you send me home? I mean, back to Jane and Brock?”

“Transportation to and from the spa is the client’s responsibility,” the android repeated.

Darcy could feel panic rising again. She was stuck. No way to get back. No one else with her. She was here. On her own.

She closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

Why the hell did she touch Jane's doohickey? She should have gone for another walk. Lay on the daybed and mourned her iPod. Daydreamed about a certain agent she couldn’t seem get out of her head…

Thinking about Brock reminded her of something he said in a safety seminar S.H.I.E.L.D. made them attend just after Thor disappeared.

_“You can't always control what's happening, but you can control how you react.”_

She slowly released her breath, concentrating on letting her anxiety go with the air leaving her body. Then she slowly breathed in again and repeated the process until she could think straight again.

So. She was stuck here - for now - but sure as eggs, Jane would already be working on finding her and bringing her back asap. All Darcy needed to do was wait.

And if she had to wait, then she may as well wait in style - kick back, relax, and enjoy having an entire android-run day spa all to herself.

What else was a girl to do?

“Okay,” she said. “Let's do it.”

“What would you like to be called?” the android asked, leading her towards a door.

“Oh.” Darcy thought hard. Hadn’t she introduced herself when Aida did? Crap. Obviously not. “I’m Darcy. Darcy Lewis. You can just, you know, call me Darcy.”

She followed the android to a changing room where she was given loose pants, a tunic, slippers, and the softest, silkiest robe in existence.

Once changed, she was handed a glass of something champagne-like and taken on a tour of the facility.

They started with the indoor swimming pool, hot tub, and sauna, followed by the mist and steam rooms.

Next, she was shown rooms with a large variety of baths of all kinds and sizes, including one that covered the floor area of an entire room. The tour then continued through more normal looking rooms for things like massages, pedicures, manicures, and hair care, and finished with the more exotic rooms, including one swathed in silk drapes and bringing to mind a gothic four poster bed, but with extra drapey bits and no posts.

Her mind boggled at what might happen in that particular room.

The tour ended in the residential area of the center and a suite so luxurious, Darcy suspected even Tony Stark would be impressed.

“This will be your residence for the duration of your stay,” the android informed her.

“Okay,” a near-dumbstruck Darcy managed to say.

“Your first therapy will commence in thirty minutes. Do you prefer feminine, masculine, or nonbinary therapists?”

“Ah… no preference?” Darcy said uncertainly. “Does it matter?”

“We only wish to provide you with a comfortable experience. You may change your preference at any time.”

Darcy nodded. “Okay. I'm fine with whatever for now, then.”

“Refreshments have been provided in your suite and one of our friendly staff will arrive to escort you to the steam room five minutes beforehand.”

The android disappeared and, after a moment of ‘holy shit what the hell is going on here?’, Darcy collapsed onto the bed and stared around the room.

“Ohmygod. Oh, my god. Oh. My. God.”

All the panic and anxiety she pushed down earlier was back with a vengeance. Drawing her legs up to her chest, she leaned her forehead on her knees and took several deep breaths. She needed to make sense of what was happening but her mind wouldn’t focus and kept wandering off, distracted by thoughts of massages! and facials! and Iwannafloatinthatgiantbath! Oh, my!

Stupid brain.

The only thing she could be sure of right now? She was on her own, in a beauty spa run by androids, with no evidence of any other living creatures. And she couldn’t get back to Jane and Brock because ‘transportation to and from the facility is the client’s responsibility’ whatever the hell that was supposed to mean!

She’d have clarify that with Aida later. What kind of transport? Was there a road in and out of here? Or maybe a door she hadn’t found yet that would miraculously take her back to the island like a door to Narnia.

She squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated on her breathing, still trying to control her flighty brain.  
Her stomach growled, distracting her from the panicky thoughts spiralling through her brain.

Of course. If she _had_ just portalled again - which, face it, she’d touched what Jane explicitly explained was another portal device, so … yeah, that was probably a thing - then she was going to be hungry, followed by tired, followed by hungry, followed by restless, followed by whatever other side effects she didn't know about yet.

If they were going to keep doing this, Jane needed to figure out how to reduce all these consequences.  
She wiped her face, only a little surprised when her fingers came away damp, and got off the bed to look for the food.

The refreshments were easy to find - more of the champagne stuff, as well as strawberries, cheese and crackers, and some tiny little pastry things stuffed with something creamy. It didn't seem like a lot but it was enough for now. Glass in hand, she did a cursory exploration of the suite. She had a bed big enough to fit four Thor-sized people, with sheets so soft she could barely feel them underneath her fingertips. The shower was big enough for three or four people, with gigantic rain-shower heads on opposite walls and a bath roughly the same size as the shower. The large walk-in closet was fully stocked with super comfy clothes all in her size.

The only things missing were a television and books. Just like the villa.

She drained the glass, ate the food, and waited for her escort to arrive.

Aida returned just as Darcy finished eating the snacks and escorted her to a steam room where another android stood waiting. This one called itself Socorro, and while Darcy got a definite girly vibe from Aida, she suspected Socorro was one of the nonbinary androids.

She was shown to a changing room with ‘a choice of garments to suit all tastes’, changed into a bikini, and took a seat in the tiled room. It filled quicky with a thick, humid fog that drained the energy and tension from her body until she felt more like a bean bag than a person. This was followed by a full body exfoliation, a full body massage (including an unintentional nap), and a recovery period laying on a bed in the mist room. Complete with another nap.

After all of that, Aida showed her back to her suite with instructions to “Please, feel welcome to explore the grounds at your leisure. Press this button if you require any assistance and enjoy the rest of your day.”

Even though she felt wrung out, Darcy didn’t feel like hanging out in her suite and took herself off for some exploration. The earlier tour hadn’t ventured outside, but she did take note of the tree-filled garden she saw through several different windows. It didn’t take very long to find an exit and even less time after that to realise the facility was built high on the side of a large hill, overlooking a glorious, garden-filled valley.

A familiar sound of running water caught her attention and after a short walk she found an infinity swimming pool built into the hill. Surrounded by shady trees, it overlooked a large section of the valley’s gardens, including a well-manicured lawn, a small woodland, a rose garden, several dozen topiary animals, an outdoor lifesize chess board, and a hedge maze.

She immediately resolved to explore every inch of the garden … as soon as she felt less like a limp strand of spaghetti and more like something with bones. For now, she was content to slide into the pool and watch the sun set behind the forested mountains that loomed overhead.

 

* * *

 

The next day was full of beauty treatments, concentrating on her hair and face, which meant she didn’t feel quite so wrung out afterwards. On the walk back to her suite, her android guide offered her the choice to eat her next meal in the gardens and, in her closet, Darcy found a sundress almost identical to the one Jane made her wear on the day of her first arrival.

She ate on a shady verandah overlooking a zen garden, backed by a large pond and an elegant wooden bridge. She spent the entire afternoon exploring the grounds, discovering all sorts of features and displays.

She finished the day with a swim in the infinity pool set into the side of the hill, floating blissfully in the warm water and watching the abundance of unfamiliar stars twinkle above her. When she went to bed, she fell asleep within minutes of her head hitting the pillow and dreamed that Jane and Brock were here with her.

Several days passed in this manner. On the third day, she woke up feeling refreshed and realised the portal-induced exhaustion had worn off. Two days after that, a fog lifted from her mind, and suddenly she could think properly again. She hadn’t even realised how weary and cloudy her brain was and she wondered if it was another portal related thing. She made a mental note to ask Jane and Brock if they experienced the same thing.

The days rolled on.

After being subjected to whatever massages, treatments, or therapies the androids scheduled for her, she explored the gardens - smelling flowers, watching fish swim in the ponds, bird-spotting, exploring the endless paths … thoroughly losing herself in the maze and eventually calling for help until an android appeared to lead her out…

It was an idyllic existence, but even so, by the end of a week (give or take a day or two, she really wasn’t sure any more), Darcy was lonely and bored.

If she wasn’t being pummelled and pampered, or walking in the gardens, there was nothing else to do. Some days, she just wanted to lie on her bed or in a recliner and read a book, or watch television, or listen to music, and she couldn’t because none of those things existed here. The lack of non-active, brain-occupying leisure activities was becoming frustrating.

She used her mind constantly in the normal world, whether helping Jane or reading a book or researching avenues of further education. What she really wanted at the moment was something different to do. All the relaxation was great, but she needed an outlet for her mind.

Like reading a book. Or playing solitaire. Or doing a crossword puzzle. Proofreading and correcting one of Jane's calculations...

On the upside though, all the hours spent lying around were an unparalleled opportunity to let her mind disengage and do its own thing, and really think about … well, lots of stuff. The island. The portals. Brock.

On day ten - or eleven, or twelve; she'd lost track - Aida announced that Darcy had experienced everything they had to offer and her course of ‘treatment’ was at an end, but she was “Welcome to remain for as long as you desire. All our facilities remain available for your pleasure.”

That was two days ago and Darcy was trying to make her own mental stimulation.

She started by doing the hedge maze again, drawing a map using a pillowcase from her bed and an eyeliner she filched from the beauty parlour. (Paper, pens and pencils were another thing she hadn't seen here.)

It took her all day, but this time she made it out on her own.

The next morning, she started the day off with a swim before breakfast. She put her towel over the rail, her robe on a chair, and dove in.

She didn't hear the gong that echoed across the gardens.

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've never been to a day spa, (although I have experienced saunas and spa baths) but I did some research on the internet and everything in this chapter is based on Real Stuff. Honest. Google it if you don't believe me. Some of that shit is Weird.


	11. Brock Through The Portal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brock finds himself on the other side of the portal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so the title is a riff on Alice Through The Looking Glass... I don't why, it just seemed right.
> 
> I've been sufferering from a major lack of motivation lately, plus I've been sick (and it's lingering godsdammit!!) so I've hardly written anything. Luckily I have a couple of short chapters in reserve so here, have some more story!
> 
> beta'd by Chrissihr, but again, I've done more editing so any mistakes left are my own.

Spas continued...

 

* * *

 

Every trip through the portal so far had been made under duress, with no time, thought, or inclination to analyse the experience properly.  
This time was different.

Brock entered the event horizon of the portal with the need to find Darcy first and foremost in his mind, but this time he was fully aware of every step, every sensation.

It was like passing through the curtain of a waterfall that was simultaneously boiling hot and freezing cold. He felt every cell in his body ripped apart and put back together a thousand times in the barest flash of a moment, but there was no pain, just a brief gasp for breath in lungs that failed to exist for less time than it took to blink.

And then the second step was into a white and blue room that looked like a cross between the Enterprise and a hospital waiting room.  
He was awake, upright, and still in possession of everything he carried into the portal, including the portable apparatus.

“What the fuck…?”

He turned on the spot, eyes rapidly assessing exits, defensible positions, and cover, as he pulled his gun from its holster, holding it by his side and one hundred percent ready to defend himself.

The doors at either end of the small room were identical, with nothing to indicate what lay beyond the near-opaque glass.

He went left.

The door opened easily and he progressed cautiously along the wide, gently curving corridor towards to the door set in the inner wall.

There was no glass window in this door. He reached out and tested the handle. It clicked open, and he pulled it just wide enough to peer through the gap into a change room. With a quick glance behind him - the corridor was empty in both directions - he slipped into the room.

It took less than a minute to determine it was empty and had no other exits.

He returned to the still empty corridor and moved to the next door. This one opened onto a large indoor swimming pool, as empty as the previous room. A thorough search revealed a second exit leading into a garden and a single towel draped over a rail at the back of the room. When he touched it, it was damp.

For a moment he wished he had the rest of his team here, so they could conduct a proper search of the place. His instincts were telling him that he’d find Darcy in the gardens, but the thought of leaving the rest of the building unexplored behind him made his skin crawl and his shoulder blades itch.

He glanced at the towel again, looked out the window into the garden, and left the room.

As he made his way through the building he saw more evidence of recent occupation but not once did he see any other sign of life, although several times the back of his neck prickled and he could have sworn he glimpsed movement from the corner of his eye. It became clear very early on that he was in some kind of health and beauty resort.

Some of the rooms looked downright torturous.

The room at the end of the corridor was a dead end and as empty as every other room he'd explored so he turned around and made his way back to the reception area, intent on clearing the right hand door of potential hostiles. The right wing was just as empty as the left, but halfway through his sweep he found what was clearly a residential area, with several rooms and suites.

One of them was occupied.

Or at least, showed signs of occupation even though it was currently empty.

The bed was unmade, there were towels thrown across the backs of chairs and a pillow slip covered in maze-like lines was spread over a table.  
Brock rubbed a hand over his face. He could either wait here for her to come back - which could be hours - or he could keep looking.

Brock was not a waiting man.

On a whim, he dropped one of his knives on the table as a calling card before heading outside. It wasn't as if he had pen and paper after all.  
He stalked through the gardens, every sense alert for any sign of life. Several minutes after leaving the suite, he heard the splash and gurgle of a swimming pool and adjusted his trajectory accordingly.

As he rounded a large tree the pool revealed itself, large and clear, spilling over the edge and into the air above the small valley.

And a body, right in the middle, floating face down and motionless, long dark hair swirling loosely in the water.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...sorrynotsorry...


	12. Deep Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things get awkward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one of the questions I asked my American friends while writing this chapter was ‘what do you call swimwear?’ We agreed that ‘swimsuit’ was a suitable generic name, although I personally would call them togs, swimmers, or bathers… or boardies or budgie smugglers (for men's Speedos). Cossie is also common Aussie slang for something you swim in. Let me know in the comments what you call them!
> 
> beta'd by Chrissihr, any mistakes belong to me and me alone :-)

 Deep Water

* * *

 

Heart thumping, breath caught in his throat, Brock divested himself of tac vest and weapons and slid smoothly into the water. It took all of his self control _not_ to plunge in all helter skelter. He forced his way through the water towards the body and reached out to check for a pulse before attempting to move it.

At least, that was his plan. Things did _not_ go to plan.

The moment he touched her, she jerked away, knees narrowly missing his balls as she pulled them into her body, and an arm flung over and hit him across the face as she flailed about wildly.

“Jesus, fuck! Darcy! Darcy, stop,” he cried out, bracing his boots on the bottom of the pool as he tried to capture her flailing arms. “It's me, Darcy. It's Brock.”

“What the hell?” she gasped out, half sinking below the water as she struggled to right herself.

“It's okay. I got you. I got you.” He pulled her against his chest, wrapping one arm around her waist and dragging wet hair from her face with the other, relief mixing with concern as she coughed. “Shit. Are you okay?”

“What the hell, dude? You nearly drowned me!”

“I thought-”

“You thought what? That touching someone who thought they were the only person in the pool was a good idea?” she demanded, bracing her hands on his chest, tilting her head to one side and glaring at him. “You scared the shit out of me!”

“You weren't moving and you were face down, for chrissake!” he said, relief swiftly turning to anger. “I thought you were dead.”

“You thought I was dead?” she asked, pulling back slightly and staring at him with wide eyed surprise. "You jumped into the pool fully dressed because you thought I was dead?”

“You. Weren't. Moving,” he repeated. “Face down - what the hell was I expected to think?”

“Uh, well for starters, if anything _did_ happen to me, the androids would've been out here pronto-”

“What androids?”

“You haven't seen the androids?”

“I haven't seen anyone except you since I got here.”

Her narrowed eyes bore into his for a long moment as if searching for something. “And then you thought I was dead so you jumped in to save me.”

“Yes, I think we've established that,” he replied. How the hell did she manage to make him feel embarrassed for doing his job? “So if you weren't drowning, what _were_ you doing?”

“I was looking at the mosaic,” she said, shifting one arm to curl around his neck as she pointed enthusiastically with the other. “See? Look at it!”

He shifted his hand across her bare skin to accommodate her new position and looked along the line of her extended arm towards the bottom of the pool.

“It looks like a maze,” he said dismissively, unsure of why she was so excited about a bit of decoration as he looked back at her.

Her pointing arm came back to rest on his shoulder, her whole body shifting closer to his when she turned her head to meet his gaze. Her legs drifted in the water, not quite long enough to touch bottom and her shift in position brought her face even closer to his. Close enough to see tiny water droplets clinging to her lips and eyelashes. Close enough to smell the faint lingering scent of her shampoo underneath the stronger odour of chlorine. Close enough to kiss…

“Yeah, it is.” Darcy's eager voice regained his wandering attention. Her eyes were shining with the same light Jane got when she had a breakthrough, and she didn't seem to even notice their proximity. “It's an exact replica of the hedge maze in the garden, and _it wasn't there yesterday._ ”

“That doesn't- It's a swimming pool.” He tried hard to concentrate on what Darcy was saying, but he'd never held her like this before, never really even been this close to her before. It was … distracting. “You can't change the bottom of a pool overnight.”

Except even as he said it, he was well aware that things could and _did_ change overnight - and on the island, that was exactly what happened. They may not be on the island at the moment, but he had a feeling that wherever they were, it was island-adjacent.

Darcy eyed him shrewdly and shrugged, the water lapping at her bare shoulders. Brock glanced down, his attention caught by the ripple and shine of the water. Bare shoulders…

“Really?” She smirked. “That's what you think?”

…his eyes drifted further down, his free hand picking at the wet strands of hair stuck to her skin…

“Because that's not even the interesting bit- Uh, what are you doing?” she finished, her breath hitching when his fingers touched her silky smooth skin.

The complications she would bring to his life - and vice versa - were starting to seem less like major obstacles and more like minor inconveniences. Excuses. He hadn't gotten this far by being bad at problem solving.

The hell with complications, he decided. He'd worry about that later.

“Darcy.” He stared down through the water to where her creamy skin pressed against his t-shirt. “Are you wearing a swimsuit?”

“What?” she said, following his eyes down. “Oh, shit. Um, no?”

“Are you wearing anything at all?”

She shook her head slowly, ducking her head briefly before meeting his gaze again. “Just to be clear,” she said, “if I'd known you were gonna show up like this, I would most definitely have worn something. I don't … I don't want you to be uncomfortable or anything.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This woman was going to be the death of him, he just knew it. When he opened them again, she was staring at him with wide eyes, a pink glow on her cheeks.

“I'm not uncomfortable.” Not in the way she seemed to think anyway, but she hadn't let go of him - one hand still wrapped around his neck, the other resting on his shoulder. Jesus, a man could only resist temptation for so long. He tried not to think about the fact that the body pressed so tightly against his was completely naked, but it was hard… No, she was soft - _He_ was hard.

Fuck.

The hand on his neck shifted slightly, almost caressing him. His eyes dropped back to her full mouth. If he tilted his head just so…

“Do you and your companion require assistance, Darcy?”

Brock’s head jerked up and his body twisted around, looking for the source of the voice, simultaneously pushing Darcy behind him, acutely aware of where he placed his hands. He heard a soft squawk of surprise and she grabbed tightly onto his shoulders.

“Gees, you’re so touchy,” she muttered. “Settle down, dude. Everything’s fine.” She patted him gently on the shoulder in what he guessed was an attempt to reassure him. “Androids, remember?”

She lifted her voice. “Hey, Socorro, we could use some towels, please.” She lowered her voice for a moment. “I left my towel at the other pool. Wasn’t actually planning on two swims this morning. Oops.” She raised her voice again and resumed talking to the android. “This is my friend, Brock. He’s come to take me home.”

“Very well, Darcy. I will return shortly. Where would you like to take breakfast today?”

“I usually eat outside. Is that okay with you?” she asked, lowering her voice again.

“Wherever you want,” he replied, still watching the android.

She didn’t reply right away and he shot a quick look over his shoulder to see her studying him intently. She was so close to him.

“What?”

“Just thinking.” The corners of her mouth lifted in a little smile. “Outside is nice, but I think maybe we’ll eat inside today.” She looked back at the android.

“We’ll have breakfast in my room, thanks. We won’t be long.”

The android left and Brock relaxed again. “What the hell is this place anyway?” he asked.

“It’s a spa resort run entirely by androids,” Darcy replied, still holding onto him. “Well, they look like androids. I’ve counted about seven different ones I think, but it’s kinda hard to tell them apart and they don't always introduce themselves.”

She patted his shoulder again. “Come on. Let's get ready for breakfast.”

She let go and kicked away, striking out towards the steps while he trailed along behind her, pushing against the resistance from his boots and clothes. The android reappeared with more towels as Darcy reached the steps and climbed out, not even sparing him a backwards glance. She looked like a goddess rising out of the water, wet hair streaming down her back, the water shining across her curves. Brock wanted to run his hands all over them.

He filled his lungs and sank beneath the water, eyes closed against the sting of chlorine.

Fuck it.

Brock Rumlow didn’t avoid his problems, he solved them.

No more running away.

By the time he surfaced, he had the beginnings of an idea of a plan, and Darcy had one towel wrapped tightly around her body, another around her head, and her robe hung loosely from one hand. He dragged himself out of the pool and sat down on the closest chair, ready to pull his waterlogged boots off and put his plan into action.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case anyone's wondering why Brock didn't dive in - he had no way of knowing if the body in the water had a spinal injury or not. For a suspected spinal injury, you need to keep the patient as immobile as possible, so that means evacuating everyone else from the pool and trying not to cause too much disturbance.
> 
> Also, would YOU jump into a pool with a pair of taser rods strapped to your back??
> 
> My Tumblr, if you're interested, is  
> [ibelieveinturtles](http://ibelieveinturtles.tumblr.com/)


	13. Still Waters Run Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Darcy’s head is spinning like a whirlpool

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!  
> What better way to start the new year with a fic update, right? 
> 
> so… most of this has been written since I posted the last chapter but I rewrote the ending about 5 times before settling on something I was happy with. And then I decided to write Christmas prompts.
> 
> Thanks, as always, to chrissihr for her fantastic beta skills.

Still Waters Run Deep

* * *

 

Darcy climbed out of the pool straight backed, chin held high, body almost vibrating with emotion. Her skin tingled where Brock touched it - face, neck, shoulder, hip, waist. She could still feel every fingerprint as though it were branded on her body.

Her heart was racing, but she wasn’t sure if it was from the shock of Brock’s sudden appearance or because she’d been plastered up against him in the pool. Maybe it was a bit of both?

She smiled to herself as she ran through the events in the pool in her mind - his sudden switch from concerned to angry had startled her until she realised what was happening. Yes, he got angry, _but_ it was the same kind of angry her mom got when Darcy got distracted by the stuffed unicorns in Target that one time and for several very long minutes, Mom thought Darcy was lost, or worse.

Darcy took a deep breath, gave herself a mental slap and pulled her rambling thoughts back to Brock as she wrapped a towel around herself… yeah, Darcy recognised _that_ kind of angry.

If only she hadn’t chosen this morning to try skinny dipping. That was definitely unplanned and - ultimately - very embarrassing, because between Brock's unexpected arrival and her discovery of the maze mosaic on the bottom of the pool, she completely forgot she was swimming in the altogether until he asked where her swimsuit was.

It wasn’t like she meant for him to find her naked in a pool, or end up pressed up against him like the cover of a racy novel… (and if she told herself the only reason she hadn't put space between them was to save her modesty and both of them from even more embarrassed awkwardness, well, she'd be lying to herself.)

So much for promising herself not to put him in any more awkward situations, she thought, grabbing another towel for her dripping hair. That was about as awkward as it got.

She rubbed her hands across her face, digging the heels of her palms into her eyes. Now that she wasn't so close to him… she replayed the whole thing in her head and came to the uncertain conclusion that maybe he wasn't as averse to her company as she thought. After all, he’d jumped fully clothed into a pool to save her from drowning, hadn’t let go or pushed her away when her lack of swimsuit was discovered, and … and for moment there, right before Socorro interrupted, it felt like he wanted to kiss her.

She pondered this last bit for several seconds. So maybe he didn’t mind the awkwardness? Or maybe the awkwardness was all in her head…

Dragging her hands down her face, she gave herself a mental shake before leaning down to pick her robe up, pulling it on, and tying the sash loosely so she could slip the towel off underneath it. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed Brock stepping out of the pool, wet shirt clinging to his body, outlining every muscle… Dammit. She thought she'd had plenty of time to think about things, but now Brock was actually here, parading around like it was his own personal wet t-shirt competition, she was overcome by doubt again. Yeah, doubt. Certainly not any other word beginning with d.

She pulled the second towel off her head as she tried to analyse the whirlpool of thought and emotion that was her current state of mind. On the one hand, there was buckets and buckets of doubt and embarrassment; on the other hand… she was beginning to think Jane was right.

That was something for future Darcy to think about, she decided. Because what she knew right now was that she was really glad to see him. _Really_ glad. But she also needed to get away from him, like. Pronto. Before she did something stupid, like jump on him or something. It was all Jane's fault, she decided. Saying that Darcy had a crush on Brock.

The best thing to do for now was feed him, then wait for him to pass out from the portal fatigue. Then she could go and sit in the garden somewhere and try and sort her rambling thoughts out because right now she felt like she was going in circles.

Picking up a dry towel, she turned and held it out to Brock.

“Um, so I'm gonna let you - you know,” she waved the towel about meaningfully, not quite meeting his eyes, “and I'll meet you-”

“Oh, no,” he said, shaking his head as he took the towel. “You're staying right here where I can see you.”

“What?” She blinked in confusion. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go.

He put the towel down on the chair next to him, pulled a boot off and turned it upside down to watch the water pour out of it. “If you think I'm letting you out of my sight again, you've got another think coming.”

“What?” She really needed to stop saying what.

He pulled the second boot off, setting it carefully beside its mate once it, too, was empty of water. “We stay together until we leave.” He peeled one soggy sock off and draped it over the chair. “Where I go,” -the other sock came off- “you go, and vice versa.”

Darcy drew breath to protest this high handed assumption, but before she uttered even a single word, Brock stood up and pulled his shirt off, tossing it over the arm of the chair before reaching for the buttons on his pants.

She panicked.

“What are you doing?”

“What does it look like I'm doing?” He glanced up at her, his eyes - wait, was that a twinkle she could see? Was he twinkling at her? “I'm taking my wet clothes off.”

“Here?”

He shrugged. “Why not? It's just us, and it's not like you haven't seen it all before, sweetheart,” he replied, hooking his thumbs into the waistband. Holy crap. Definitely a twinkle… and he was calling her sweetheart again.

And dammit, he had a point, but it wasn’t as if she expected to ever see any of it again… not after what happened last time. She was so not prepared for this, but then again - _‘a free show is a free show, right? And he’s practically asking me to look,’_ another part of her brain pointed out. She had to agree with the other part of her brain here. ‘ _It’s not like I’m sneaking up on him unawares this time,’_ the traitorous inner voice continued.

“That doesn't mean you need to strip everything off here.” She tried a last-ditch feeble protest, feeling the heat rise in her cheeks. “Anyway, we agreed never to speak of that again.”

“No, _you_ decided never to mention it again, and then you ran away before I got to have my say,” he shot back, glowering at her before returning his attention to his pants. “I'm not walking all the way back to the room like this,” he grumbled. “It's uncomfortable and it'll chafe.”

Darcy pressed her lips tightly together. He was right. Both about the running away and the chafing. Chafing was the worst. She gave a reluctant nod.

“That’s a fair point.”

She picked up the used towels, fussing with them while Brock finished taking his wet pants off, and trying to pretend she wasn’t affected by the strip show being performed right beside her.

“You sure you don’t want me to go find you a robe?”

“What did I just say about not letting you out of my sight? I don't need a robe, and I’m not letting you run away from me again.”

Darcy cracked. Her emotions were yo-yoing all over the place and two weeks suddenly wasn’t long enough to sort out her feelings.

“Ugh! I’m not running away! I’ve been here on my own for days. Look - I’m still in one piece!” She waved her hands up and down her body. “See? All present and accounted for!”

He took the gesture as an invitation to let his eyes wander slowly over her body, starting with her feet and ending with her eyes. She fought the urge to tighten the belt of her robe and tug at the suddenly too-short hem, acutely aware of how much nothing she wore under it.

He rose from the chair wearing nothing but his wet boxer briefs and took the few steps necessary to close the gap between them.

Her brain short circuited.

“I did see,” he said, looking down at her, “but you scared the shit outta m-Jane when you disappeared. She told me to find you and bring you back safely. So, I need to keep you safe, and the easiest way to do that is for us to stay together.”

For a long moment they stood toe to toe, eyes locked on each other. Darcy barely breathed under his intense gaze, unable to look away as he stared down at her. Finally he lifted one corner of his mouth in the tiniest hint of a smile she'd ever seen and moved away. “We stay together,” he repeated.

Darcy blinked and her brain came back online, throwing up an alert as it did so. Wait, what did he just say?

He stepped past her to grab a clean towel off the pile, wrapping it tightly around his waist.

Butterflies filled Darcy’s stomach and she turned to look at him. “Say that again.”

“We stay together.”

“No, no. The bit before that. The bit where you almost said ‘me’ before you said ‘Jane.’”

Brock straightened up and turned to face her. “You scared us both,” he said.

“Yeah, but that’s not what you said. You started to say ‘me’, and then changed it to ‘Jane.’ Why?”

He met her challenge with an unwavering gaze, his face in its usual blank expression. Her stomach lurched and the butterflies disappeared as suddenly as they arrived. She just knew he was going to make an excuse and deny it - brush it off, make her think she'd misheard.

She shook her head and started to turn away. “You know what, don’t worry about it. It’s not that impor-”

His hand snaked out and grabbed her arm. “Listen to me very carefully - the last thing you need is someone like me in your life,” he said, cutting her off mid-sentence. “I'm not a nice person, Darcy. I'm not- you know who I work for. You must have some idea of what that means. The kind of things I do. And you-  You're young and innocent and yes, I like you - more than I probably should.”

“Oh.” She stared at his hand on her arm, stunned by his unexpectedly honest answer, and the butterflies came back to wreak vengeance. “Really?”

He loosened his grip on her arm, moving in closer and lowering his voice. “Yes, really.” She could feel his warm breath on her cheek. “I’ve been trying to keep my distance for a lotta good reasons, but-” He drew in a deep breath and let go, lifting his hand to draw a strand of wet hair off her cheek. “If Jane hadn't stopped me, I woulda slammed that button and come after you right away. Ask her when we get back. I'm sure she'll take great delight in telling you what an idiot I was and how she threatened to portal me into oblivion if I did anything to hurt you.”

“That does sound like something Jane would say,” she replied, still reeling from Brock's confession. “Wow.”

“You don’t have to do or say anything,” he said. “And I won’t mention it again if you don’t want me to, but I need you to know that I don’t blame you at all for what happened yesterday, okay? I fucked up and I’m sorry I made you feel bad. I could've handled it better.”

Darcy hadn't dared to look at his face throughout his confession, but now she raised her eyes to meet his. He was so close, and the change in his face was astounding. She'd never seen his expression so open, so unguarded. She was used to the veiled smiles, the knowing looks, the cocky grins, but in _this_ moment, she realised all those expressions were masks.

She hadn't realised how deep his eyes could be. She could drown in these eyes.

“I still shouldn’t have creeped on you.”

“It was practically a public shower. It was my own fault.”

“Doesn’t mean it was an invitation though.”

“I should have known better.”

“Uh, it's not like you were expecting an audience though, right?”

“Would you just accept my damn apology?”

“You don't need to apologise for anything.”

“Darcy-”

“Okay, okay. Apology accepted.”

Brock closed his eyes, his head dropping to rest against hers. A light breath of air puffed across her face and he seemed to deflate a little.

“Thank you.”

His hand rested lightly on her shoulder, his thumb rubbing gentle circles on her skin. The silence stretched out between them but Darcy didn't feel at all awkward.

Darcy licked her lips. “You know, I've done a lot of thinking since I've been here.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” She only needed to tilt her face up a little bit to press her lips to his. They were warm and velvety soft and tasted like chlorine. She turned into him, her body pressed against his, arms circling his waist as his hand slid around to cup the base of her neck, fingers tangling in her hair as she pulled him closer.

By the time they pulled apart they were both breathing heavily.

“You sure about this?” Brock's voice rumbled softly in her ear, sending a shiver up her spine.

Darcy nodded, feeling a dopey grin spread across her face as she gazed at him.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.”

“Okay.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, then another to her lips before stepping back and looking around. “Come on, let's grab my stuff and go eat. Then you can tell me all about this place”


End file.
